CN115134874A

CN115134874A - QoS flow control method and device

Info

Publication number: CN115134874A
Application number: CN202210679804.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 吴义壮; 熊春山
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2018-01-16
Filing date: 2018-01-16
Publication date: 2022-09-30
Also published as: CN110049517A; BR112020014486A2; WO2019141166A1; CN110049517B; EP3735030A1; EP3735030A4; US20200383005A1; US20230144570A1; US11576083B2

Abstract

The application provides a method and a device for controlling QoS flow, wherein an SMF network element receives first indication information sent by an access network device, the first indication information is used for indicating that a first QoS target of QoS flow cannot be met, then the SMF network element judges whether second indication information sent by the access network device is received within first preset time, the second indication information is used for indicating that the first QoS target can be met, if the SMF network element receives the second indication information, QoS flow is not processed, and if the SMF network element does not receive the second indication information, the QoS flow is deleted or modified. Therefore, when the QoS target of the QoS flow cannot be met, the SMF network element does not delete the QoS flow or modify the QoS flow immediately, but deletes or modifies the QoS flow after delaying the first preset time if the QoS target of the QoS flow cannot be met, and the problem that the QoS flow service cannot be served or the service quality of the service is reduced due to the fact that the SMF network element deletes or modifies the QoS flow immediately under the condition that resources of an access network device are short-term and short-term in shortage is avoided.

Description

QoS flow control method and device

The present application is a divisional application, the original application having application number 201810041613.8, the original application date being 2018, month 01 and day 16, the entire content of the original application being incorporated by reference in the present application.

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to communications technologies, and in particular, to a method and an apparatus for controlling Quality of Service (QoS) flow.

Background

In a fifth Generation mobile communication (5Generation, 5G) system, in order to guarantee end-to-end service quality of traffic, a 5G QoS model based on QoS flow is proposed, where the 5G QoS model includes Guaranteed Bit Rate QoS flow (GBR QoS flow) and Non-Guaranteed Bit Rate QoS flow (Non-GBR QoS flow). Wherein, the transmission processing (such as scheduling, admission threshold, etc.) of the data packets included in the same QoS flow is the same.

A User Equipment (UE) may establish one or more Packet Data Unit (PDU) sessions with a 5G system, and one or more QoS flows may be established in each PDU session. Each QoS Flow is identified by a QoS Flow Identifier (QFI) that uniquely identifies a QoS Flow in a session. GBR QoS Flow includes GBR QoS Flow using Notification control (Notification control) for indicating whether AN Access Network (AN)/Radio Access Network (RAN) notifies a network when a Guaranteed Flow Bit Rate (GFBR) cannot be satisfied during use of QoS Flow, and GBR QoS Flow not using Notification control. In the existing GBR QoS flow controlled by using notification, when the GBR QoS flow is established, and at any time, when the (R) AN detects that the QoS target of the corresponding GBR QoS flow cannot be met, AN indication message is sent to a Session Management Function (SMF network element), and the SMF network element further determines to initiate a flow of modifying or deleting the QoS flow.

However, since the resource shortage of (R) AN may be temporary, if the SMF element receives AN indication that the QoS target cannot be met, it immediately deletes the QoS flow or modifies the QoS flow to lower the QoS target, resulting in a portion of the traffic being out of service or a reduced quality of service.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a method and a device for controlling a QoS flow, which can avoid the problem that the QoS flow cannot be served or the service quality of a service is reduced due to the fact that an SMF network element immediately deletes or modifies the QoS flow under the condition that the resources of an access network device are short-term and in shortage.

A first aspect of the present application provides a method for controlling a QoS flow, including:

receiving first indication information sent by an access network device by a Session Management Function (SMF) network element, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating that a first QoS target of a QoS flow cannot be met, the first QoS target comprises a first Guaranteed Flow Bit Rate (GFBR), and the QoS flow is a flow with the same QoS processing;

within a first preset time, if the SMF network element receives second indication information sent by the access network device, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the first QoS target can be met, the SMF network element does not process the QoS stream;

and in the first preset time, if the SMF network element does not receive the second indication information sent by the access network device, the SMF network element deletes or modifies the QoS flow.

According to the method, when the QoS target of the QoS flow cannot be met, the SMF network element does not delete the QoS flow or modify the QoS flow immediately, but deletes or modifies the QoS flow after delaying the first preset time if the QoS target of the QoS flow cannot be met, so that the problem that the QoS flow cannot be served by the SMF network element or the QoS flow is reduced due to the fact that the SMF network element deletes or modifies the QoS flow immediately under the condition that resources of an access network device are short-term and short-term in shortage is solved.

In a possible implementation manner, within the first preset time, if the SMF network element receives third indication information sent by the access network device, where the third indication information is used to indicate that the first QoS target cannot be met, the SMF network element deletes or modifies the QoS flow.

In one possible implementation manner, the method further includes: and the SMF network element determines an operation executed on the QoS flow according to the first indication information, wherein the operation is the deletion or modification of the QoS flow, and the operation state is a to-be-executed state. Since the operation of determining the QoS flow and the detection of whether the second indication information is received may be performed in parallel, compared to determining the modification operation of the QoS flow after the first preset time, the time for the modification flow of the QoS flow may be shortened, thereby reducing the influence on the service.

In one possible implementation, the modifying, by the SMF network element, the QoS flow includes:

the SMF network element determines a second QoS target of the QoS flow according to QoS strategy information, wherein the second QoS target comprises a second GFBR, and the QoS strategy information comprises at least first QoS control information and second QoS control information;

and the SMF network element sends the second QoS target to the access network device.

Compared with the prior art, the scheme of the application modifies the QoS target of the QoS flow from the first QoS target to the second QoS target, and the QoS quality of the QoS flow cannot be reduced.

In a possible implementation manner, the QoS policy information further includes priority information of at least first QoS control information and priority information of second QoS control information, and the determining, by the SMF network element, a second QoS target of the QoS flow according to the QoS policy information includes:

and the SMF network element determines a second QoS target of the QoS flow according to the priority information of the first QoS control information and the priority information of the second QoS control information which are included in the QoS strategy information.

In a possible implementation manner, the determining, by the SMF network element, the second QoS target of the QoS flow according to the QoS policy information includes:

and the SMF network element determines a second QoS target of the QoS flow according to guaranteed bit stream GBR information of the first QoS control information and GBR information of the second QoS control information which are included in the QoS strategy information.

In one possible implementation, the SMF network element determines a second QoS target for the QoS flow according to the QoS policy information,

the SMF network element determines at least one third QoS target according to the first QoS control information and the second QoS control information which are included in the QoS strategy information;

the SMF network element sends the third QoS target to the access network device;

the SMF network element receives a fourth QoS target sent by the access network device, wherein the fourth QoS target is determined by the access network device according to the third QoS target, and the fourth QoS target is a QoS target which can be met by the access network device;

and the SMF network element determines the second QoS target according to the fourth QoS target.

The SMF network element and the access network device negotiate to determine a second QoS target, so that the second QoS target determined for the QoS flow can be ensured to be matched with the resources of the access network device, and the resources of the access network device can be utilized to the maximum extent.

In one possible implementation manner, the method further includes:

the SMF network element sends at least two QoS targets of the QoS flow to the access network device according to the QoS strategy information;

the SMF network element receives a fifth QoS target sent by the access network device, wherein the fifth QoS target is a QoS target which can be met by the access network device, and the fifth QoS target is determined by the access network device according to the at least two QoS targets when the first QoS target of the QoS flow cannot be met;

the SMF network element determines a second QoS target of the QoS flow according to the QoS policy information, including:

and the SMF network element determines the second QoS target according to the fifth QoS target.

In one possible implementation manner, the method further includes:

and the SMF network element receives the QoS strategy information sent by a strategy control function PCF network element, wherein the QoS strategy information is generated by the PCF network element according to at least two QoS requirements sent by an application function AF network element.

A second aspect of the present application provides a method for controlling a QoS flow, including:

the access network device sends first indication information to a Session Management Function (SMF) network element, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating that a first QoS target of a QoS flow of User Equipment (UE) cannot be met, the first QoS target comprises a first Guaranteed Flow Bit Rate (GFBR), and the first QoS flow is a flow with the same QoS processing;

if the first QoS target can be satisfied within a second preset time, the access network device sends second indication information to the SMF network element, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the first QoS target can be satisfied.

After the access network device sends the first indication information, whether the first QoS target can be met is detected in the second preset time, and the SMF network element is informed, so that the SMF network element does not delete the QoS flow or modify the QoS flow immediately when the QoS target of the QoS flow cannot be met, but deletes or modifies the QoS flow after the first preset time is delayed, and the problem that the QoS flow cannot be obtained by the QoS flow or the service quality of the service is reduced due to the fact that the QoS flow is deleted or modified immediately under the condition that resources of the access network device are short in time is avoided.

In one possible implementation manner, the method further includes:

if the first QoS target cannot be met within the second preset time, the access network device sends third indication information to the SMF network element, where the third indication information is used to indicate that the first QoS target cannot be met.

In one possible implementation manner, the method further includes:

and if the access network device does not receive the modification flow or the deletion flow of the QoS flow sent by the SMF network element, the access network device sends a deletion request of the QoS flow to the SMF network element.

In one possible implementation manner, the method further includes:

the second preset time is calculated by a timer, and within the second preset time, if the access network device receives the request for deleting or modifying the QoS flow sent by the SMF network element, the access network device deletes the timer.

In one possible implementation manner, the method further includes:

the access network device receives a second QoS target sent by the SMF network element, wherein the second QoS target comprises a second GFBR;

the access network device modifies the QoS flow in accordance with the second QoS target.

In a possible implementation manner, before the receiving, by the access network apparatus, the second QoS target sent by the SMF network element, the method further includes:

the access network device receives at least one third QoS target sent by the SMF network element;

the access network device determining a fourth QoS target according to the third QoS target, the fourth QoS target being a QoS target that the access network device can meet;

and the access network device sends the fourth QoS target to the SMF network element.

In a possible implementation manner, before the sending, by the access network apparatus, the first indication information to the session management function SMF network element, the method further includes:

the access network device receives at least two QoS targets of the QoS flow sent by the SMF network element;

when the first QoS target for the QoS flow cannot be met, the access network device selecting a fifth QoS target from the at least two QoS targets, the fifth QoS target being a QoS target that the access network device can meet;

and the access network device sends the fifth QoS target to the SMF network element so that the SMF network element determines the second QoS target according to the fifth QoS target.

A third aspect of the present application provides a method for controlling a QoS flow, including:

a Policy Control Function (PCF) network element receives first indication information sent by a Session Management Function (SMF) network element, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating that a first QoS target of a service cannot be met, and the first QoS target comprises a first Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR);

within a first preset time, if the PCF network element receives second indication information sent by the SMF network element, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the first QoS target can be met, the PCF network element does not process the QoS policy rule of the service;

and in the first preset time, if the PCF network element does not receive the second indication information sent by the SMF network element, the PCF network element deletes or modifies the QoS policy rule of the service.

According to the method, when the QoS target of the QoS flow cannot be met, the PCF network element does not immediately delete or modify the QoS strategy rule of the service corresponding to the QoS flow, but deletes or modifies the QoS strategy rule of the service if the QoS target of the QoS flow cannot be met after delaying for the first preset time, so that the problem that the QoS flow service cannot obtain the service or the service quality of the service is reduced due to the fact that the PCF network element immediately deletes or modifies the QoS flow under the condition that the resources of an access network device are short in time is avoided.

In a possible implementation manner, within the first preset time, if the PCF network element receives third indication information sent by the SMF network element, where the third indication information is used to indicate that the first QoS target cannot be met, the PCF network element deletes or modifies the QoS policy rule of the service.

In one possible implementation manner, the method further includes:

and the PCF network element determines an operation executed on the service according to the first indication information, wherein the operation is the deletion or modification of the QoS policy rule of the service, and the operation state is a state to be executed. Since the operation of determining to execute the QoS policy rule and the detection of whether the second indication information is received may be parallel operations, the modification time of the QoS policy rule can be shortened compared to the operation of determining to execute the modification operation on the QoS policy rule after the first preset time, thereby reducing the influence on the service.

In a possible implementation manner, the modifying, by the PCF network element, the QoS policy rule for the service includes:

the PCF network element determines a second QoS target of the service according to QoS strategy information, wherein the second QoS target comprises a second GBR, and the QoS strategy information at least comprises first QoS control information and second QoS control information;

and the PCF network element sends the second QoS target to the SMF network element.

Compared with the prior art, the scheme of the application modifies the QoS target of the service from the first QoS target to the second QoS target, and the QoS quality of the service cannot be reduced.

In a possible implementation manner, the QoS policy information further includes priority information of the first QoS control information and priority information of the second QoS control information, and the PCF network element determines the second QoS target of the service according to the QoS policy information, including:

and the PCF network element determines a second QoS target of the service according to the priority information of the first QoS control information and the priority information of the second QoS control information which are included in the QoS strategy information.

In a possible implementation manner, the determining, by the PCF network element, the second QoS target of the service according to the QoS policy information includes:

and the PCF network element determines a second QoS target of the service according to guaranteed bit stream GBR information of the first QoS control information and GBR information of the second QoS control information which are included in the QoS strategy information.

In one possible implementation, the PCF network element determines a second QoS target for the QoS flow based on the QoS policy information,

the PCF network element determines at least one third QoS target according to the first QoS control information and the second QoS control information which are included in the QoS strategy information;

the PCF network element sends the third QoS target to the SMF network element;

the PCF network element receives a fourth QoS target sent by the SMF network element, wherein the fourth QoS target is determined by the SMF network element according to the QoS target which can be met by an access network device;

and the PCF network element determines the second QoS target according to the fourth QoS target.

The PCF network element and the access network device negotiate to determine the second QoS target of the service, so that the second QoS target determined for the service can be ensured to be matched with the resources of the access network device, and the resources of the access network device can be utilized to the maximum.

In one possible implementation manner, the method further includes:

the PCF network element receives a fifth QoS target sent by the SMF network element, wherein the fifth QoS target is determined by the SMF network element according to the QoS target which can be met by an access network device;

the PCF network element determines a second QoS target of the service according to the QoS policy information, including:

and the PCF network element determines the second QoS target according to the fifth QoS target.

In one possible implementation manner, the method further includes:

the PCF network element receives at least two QoS requirements sent by an Application Function (AF) network element;

and the PCF network element generates the QoS strategy information according to the at least two QoS requirements.

A fourth aspect of the present application provides a method for controlling a QoS flow, including:

an Application Function (AF) network element receives first indication information sent by a Policy Control Function (PCF) network element, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating that a first QoS target of a service cannot be met, and the first QoS target comprises a first Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR);

within a first preset time, if the AF network element receives second indication information sent by the PCF network element, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the first QoS target can be met, the AF network element does not process the QoS requirement of the service;

and in the first preset time, if the AF network element does not receive the second indication information sent by the PCF network element, deleting or modifying the QoS requirement of the service by the AF network element.

In the method, when the QoS target of the QoS flow cannot be met, the AF network element does not immediately delete or modify the QoS requirement of the service corresponding to the QoS flow, but deletes or modifies the QoS requirement of the service after delaying the first preset time if the QoS target of the QoS flow cannot be met, so that the problem that the QoS flow service cannot obtain the service or the service quality of the service is reduced due to immediate deletion or modification of the QoS flow under the condition that the resources of an access network device are short-term in shortage is avoided.

In a possible implementation manner, within the first preset time, if the AF network element receives third indication information sent by the PCF network element, where the third indication information is used to indicate that the first QoS target cannot be met, the AF network element deletes or modifies the QoS requirement of the service.

In one possible implementation manner, the method further includes:

and the AF network element determines an operation executed on the service according to the first indication information, wherein the operation is deleting or modifying the QoS requirement of the service, and the operation state is a to-be-executed state. Since the determination of the modification operation performed on the QoS requirement and the detection of whether the second indication information is received may be performed in parallel, compared to the determination of the modification operation performed on the QoS requirement after the first preset time, the modification time of the QoS requirement can be shortened, thereby reducing the influence on the service.

In a possible implementation manner, the modifying, by the AF network element, the QoS requirement of the service includes:

the AF network element determines a second QoS target of the service according to QoS strategy information, wherein the second QoS target comprises a second GBR, and the QoS strategy information at least comprises first QoS requirement information and second QoS requirement information;

and the AF network element sends the second QoS target to the PCF network element.

Compared with the prior art, the scheme of the embodiment modifies the QoS target of the service from the first QoS target to the second QoS target, and the QoS quality of the service is not reduced.

In a possible implementation manner, the QoS policy information further includes priority information of the first QoS requirement information and priority information of the second QoS requirement information, and the determining, by the AF network element, the second QoS target of the service according to the QoS policy information includes:

and the AF network element determines a second QoS target of the service according to the priority information of the first QoS requirement information and the priority information of the second QoS requirement information which are included in the QoS strategy information.

In a possible implementation manner, the determining, by the AF network element, the second QoS target of the service according to the QoS policy information includes:

and the AF network element determines a second QoS target of the service according to guaranteed bit rate GBR information of the first QoS requirement information and GBR information of second QoS requirement information which are included in the QoS strategy information.

In a possible implementation manner, the determining, by the AF network element, the second QoS target of the QoS flow according to the QoS policy information includes:

the AF network element determines at least one third QoS target according to the first QoS requirement information and the second QoS requirement information which are included in the QoS strategy information;

the AF network element sends the third QoS target to the PCF network element;

the AF network element receives a fourth QoS target sent by the PCF network element, wherein the fourth QoS target is determined by the PCF network element according to the QoS target which can be met by an access network device;

and the AF network element determines the second QoS target according to the fourth QoS target.

And the AF network element and the access network device negotiate to determine a second QoS target of the service, so that the second QoS target determined for the service can be ensured to be matched with the resources of the access network device, and the resources of the access network device can be utilized to the maximum.

In one possible implementation manner, the method further includes:

the AF network element receives a fifth QoS target sent by the PCF network element, wherein the fifth QoS target is determined by the PCF network element according to the QoS target which can be met by an access network device;

the determining, by the AF network element, the second QoS target of the service according to the QoS policy information includes:

and the AF network element determines the second QoS target according to the fifth QoS target.

A fifth aspect of the present application provides a method for controlling a QoS flow, including:

the SMF network element receives first indication information sent by an access network device, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating that a first QoS target of a QoS flow cannot be met, the first QoS target comprises a first GFBR, and the QoS flow is a flow with the same QoS processing;

In one possible implementation, the SMF network element determines a second QoS target for the QoS flow based on the QoS policy information,

In one possible implementation manner, the method further includes:

A sixth aspect of the present application provides a method for controlling a QoS flow, including:

a policy control function PCF network element receives first indication information sent by a session management function SMF network element, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating that a first QoS target of a service cannot be met, and the first QoS target comprises a first guaranteed bit rate GBR;

In a possible implementation manner, the QoS policy information further includes priority information of the first QoS control information and priority information of the second QoS control information, and the PCF network element determines, according to the QoS policy information, the second QoS target of the service, including:

and the PCF network element determines a second QoS target of the service according to guaranteed bit stream GBR information of the first QoS control information and GBR information of the second QoS control information which are contained in the QoS strategy information.

the PCF network element sends the third QoS target to the SMF network element;

In one possible implementation manner, the method further includes:

A seventh aspect of the present application provides a method for controlling a QoS flow, including:

In one possible implementation, the AF network element determines a second QoS target of the QoS flow according to the QoS policy information,

the AF network element sends the third QoS target to the PCF network element;

In one possible implementation manner, the method further includes:

An eighth aspect of the present application provides a session management function SMF network element, including:

a receiving module, configured to receive first indication information sent by an access network device, where the first indication information is used to indicate that a first QoS target of a QoS flow, which includes a first guaranteed flow bit rate GFBR, cannot be met, and the QoS flow is a flow with the same QoS treatment;

a processing module to:

within a first preset time, if the receiving module receives second indication information sent by the access network device, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the first QoS target can be met, the QoS flow is not processed;

and in the first preset time, if the receiving module does not receive the second indication information sent by the access network device, deleting or modifying the QoS flow.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing module is further configured to: and in the first preset time, if the receiving module receives third indication information sent by the access network device, where the third indication information is used for indicating that the first QoS target cannot be met, deleting or modifying the QoS flow.

In one possible implementation manner, the processing module is further configured to: and determining an operation executed on the QoS flow according to the first indication information, wherein the operation is the deletion or modification of the QoS flow, and the state of the operation is a to-be-executed state.

In a possible implementation manner, the SMF network element further includes a sending module;

the processing module is specifically configured to: determining a second QoS target of the QoS flow according to QoS policy information, wherein the second QoS target comprises a second GFBR, and the QoS policy information comprises at least first QoS control information and second QoS control information;

the sending module is configured to send the second QoS target to the access network apparatus.

In a possible implementation manner, the QoS policy information further includes priority information of at least first QoS control information and priority information of second QoS control information, and the determining, by the processing module, a second QoS target of the QoS flow according to the QoS policy information includes:

and determining a second QoS target of the QoS flow according to the priority information of the first QoS control information and the priority information of the second QoS control information which are included in the QoS strategy information.

In one possible implementation, the determining, by the processing module, a second QoS target of the QoS flow according to the QoS policy information includes:

and determining a second QoS target of the QoS flow according to guaranteed bit stream GBR information of the first QoS control information and GBR information of the second QoS control information which are included in the QoS strategy information.

In one possible implementation, the processing module determines a second QoS target for the QoS flow according to QoS policy information;

determining at least one third QoS target according to the first QoS control information and the second QoS control information included in the QoS strategy information;

the sending module is further configured to send the third QoS target to the access network apparatus;

the receiving module is further configured to receive a fourth QoS target sent by the access network apparatus, where the fourth QoS target is determined by the access network apparatus according to the third QoS target, and the fourth QoS target is a QoS target that can be met by the access network apparatus;

determining the second QoS goal based on the fourth QoS goal.

In a possible implementation manner, the sending module is further configured to send at least two QoS targets of the QoS flow to the access network device according to the QoS policy information;

the receiving module is further configured to receive a fifth QoS target sent by the access network apparatus, where the fifth QoS target is a QoS target that can be met by the access network apparatus, and the fifth QoS target is determined by the access network apparatus according to the at least two QoS targets when the first QoS target of the QoS flow cannot be met;

the processing module determines a second QoS target for the QoS flow according to the QoS policy information, including:

determining the second QoS target based on the fifth QoS target.

In a possible implementation manner, the receiving module is further configured to:

and receiving the QoS strategy information sent by a strategy control function PCF network element, wherein the QoS strategy information is generated by the PCF network element according to at least two QoS requirements sent by an application function AF network element.

A ninth aspect of the present application provides an access network apparatus, comprising:

a sending module, configured to send first indication information to a session management function SMF network element, where the first indication information is used to indicate that a first QoS target of a QoS flow of a user equipment UE cannot be met, the first QoS target includes a first guaranteed stream bit rate GFBR, and the first QoS flow is a flow with the same QoS treatment;

the sending module is further configured to: and if the first QoS target can be met within a second preset time, sending second indication information to the SMF network element, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating that the first QoS target can be met.

In a possible implementation manner, the sending module is further configured to:

and if the first QoS target cannot be met within the second preset time, sending third indication information to the SMF network element, wherein the third indication information is used for indicating that the first QoS target cannot be met.

and if the access network device does not receive the modification flow or the deletion flow of the QoS flow sent by the SMF network element, sending a deletion request of the QoS flow to the SMF network element.

In one possible implementation manner, the second preset time is calculated by a timer, and the method further includes:

and a processing module, configured to delete the timer if the access network device receives the request for deleting or modifying the QoS flow sent by the SMF network element within the second preset time.

In one possible implementation manner, the method further includes:

a receiving module, configured to receive a second QoS target sent by the SMF network element, where the second QoS target includes a second GFBR;

a processing module to modify the QoS flow according to the second QoS target.

In a possible implementation manner, before the receiving module receives the second QoS target sent by the SMF network element, the receiving module is further configured to: receiving at least one third QoS target sent by the SMF network element;

the access network apparatus further includes:

a processing module configured to determine a fourth QoS target based on the third QoS target, the fourth QoS target being a QoS target that the access network device can meet;

the sending module is further configured to send the fourth QoS target to the SMF network element.

In a possible implementation manner, the access network apparatus further includes:

a receiving module, configured to receive at least two QoS targets of the QoS stream sent by the SMF network element;

a processing module configured to select a fifth QoS target from the at least two QoS targets when the first QoS target of the QoS flow cannot be met, the fifth QoS target being a QoS target that the access network device can meet;

the sending module is further configured to send the fifth QoS target to the SMF network element, so that the SMF network element determines the second QoS target according to the fifth QoS target.

A tenth aspect of the present application provides a policy control function PCF network element, comprising:

a receiving module, configured to receive first indication information sent by a session management function SMF network element, where the first indication information is used to indicate that a first QoS target of a service cannot be met, and the first QoS target includes a first guaranteed bit rate GBR;

a processing module to:

within a first preset time, if the receiving module receives second indication information sent by the SMF network element, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the first QoS target can be met, the QoS policy rule of the service is not processed;

and in the first preset time, if the receiving module does not receive the second indication information sent by the SMF network element, deleting or modifying the QoS policy rule of the service.

In a possible implementation manner, within the first preset time, if the receiving module receives third indication information sent by the SMF network element, where the third indication information is used to indicate that the first QoS target cannot be met, the processing module is further configured to delete or modify the QoS policy rule of the service.

In one possible implementation manner, the processing module is further configured to:

and determining an operation executed on the service according to the first indication information, wherein the operation is to delete or modify the QoS policy rule of the service, and the state of the operation is a state to be executed.

In one possible implementation, the modifying, by the processing module, the QoS policy rule of the service includes:

determining a second QoS target of the service according to QoS policy information, wherein the second QoS target comprises a second GBR, and the QoS policy information at least comprises first QoS control information and second QoS control information;

the PCF network element further comprises:

a sending module, configured to send the second QoS target to the SMF network element.

In a possible implementation manner, the QoS policy information further includes priority information of the first QoS control information and priority information of the second QoS control information, and the determining, by the processing module, the second QoS target of the service according to the QoS policy information includes:

and determining a second QoS target of the service according to the priority information of the first QoS control information and the priority information of the second QoS control information which are included in the QoS strategy information.

In a possible implementation manner, the determining, by the processing module, the second QoS target of the service according to the QoS policy information includes:

and determining a second QoS target of the service according to guaranteed bit stream GBR information of the first QoS control information and GBR information of the second QoS control information which are included in the QoS strategy information.

the sending module is further configured to send the third QoS target to the SMF network element;

the receiving module is further configured to receive a fourth QoS target sent by the SMF network element, where the fourth QoS target is determined by the SMF network element according to a QoS target that can be met by an access network device;

determining the second QoS goal based on the fourth QoS goal.

In a possible implementation manner, the receiving module is further configured to: receiving a fifth QoS target sent by the SMF network element, wherein the fifth QoS target is determined by the SMF network element according to a QoS target which can be met by an access network device;

the processing module determines a second QoS target of the service according to the QoS policy information, including:

determining the second QoS target based on the fifth QoS target.

In a possible implementation manner, the receiving module is further configured to: receiving at least two QoS requirements sent by an Application Function (AF) network element;

the processing module is further configured to generate the QoS policy information according to the at least two QoS requirements.

An eleventh aspect of the present application provides an application function AF, including:

a receiving module, configured to receive first indication information sent by a policy control function PCF network element, where the first indication information is used to indicate that a first QoS target of a service cannot be met, and the first QoS target includes a first guaranteed bit rate GBR;

a processing module to:

within a first preset time, if the receiving module receives second indication information sent by the PCF network element, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the first QoS target can be met, not processing the QoS requirement of the service;

and in the first preset time, if the receiving module does not receive the second indication information sent by the PCF network element, deleting or modifying the QoS requirement of the service.

In a possible implementation manner, within the first preset time, if the receiving module receives third indication information sent by the PCF network element, where the third indication information is used to indicate that the first QoS target cannot be met, the processing module is further configured to delete or modify the QoS requirement of the service.

and determining an operation executed on the service according to the first indication information, wherein the operation is deleting or modifying the QoS requirement of the service, and the operation state is a to-be-executed state.

In one possible implementation, the modifying the QoS requirement of the service by the processing module includes:

determining a second QoS target of the service according to QoS policy information, wherein the second QoS target comprises a second GBR, and the QoS policy information at least comprises first QoS requirement information and second QoS requirement information;

the AF network element further includes:

and a sending module, configured to send the second QoS target to the PCF network element.

In a possible implementation manner, the QoS policy information further includes priority information of the first QoS requirement information and priority information of the second QoS requirement information, and the determining, by the processing module, the second QoS target of the service according to the QoS policy information includes:

and determining a second QoS target of the service according to the priority information of the first QoS requirement information and the priority information of the second QoS requirement information which are included in the QoS strategy information.

and determining a second QoS target of the service according to Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR) information of the first QoS requirement information and GBR information of second QoS requirement information which are included in the QoS strategy information.

In one possible implementation, the processing module determines a second QoS target for the QoS flow based on QoS policy information,

determining at least one third QoS target according to the first QoS requirement information and the second QoS requirement information which are included in the QoS strategy information;

the sending module is further configured to send the third QoS target to the PCF network element;

the receiving module is further configured to receive a fourth QoS target sent by the PCF network element, where the fourth QoS target is determined by the PCF network element according to a QoS target that can be met by an access network device;

determining the second QoS goal based on the fourth QoS goal.

In a possible implementation manner, the receiving module is further configured to: receiving a fifth QoS target sent by the PCF network element, wherein the fifth QoS target is determined by the PCF network element according to the QoS target which can be met by an access network device;

determining the second QoS target based on the fifth QoS target.

A twelfth aspect of the present application provides an SMF network element, including:

a receiving module, configured to receive first indication information sent by an access network device, where the first indication information is used to indicate that a first QoS target of QoS flows, which includes a first GFBR, cannot be met, and the QoS flows are flows with the same QoS treatment;

a processing module, configured to determine a second QoS target of the QoS flow according to QoS policy information, where the second QoS target includes a second GFBR, and the QoS policy information includes at least first QoS control information and second QoS control information;

a sending module, configured to send the second QoS target to the access network apparatus.

In a possible implementation manner, the QoS policy information further includes priority information of at least first QoS control information and priority information of second QoS control information, and the processing module is specifically configured to:

In a possible implementation manner, the processing module is specifically configured to:

determining at least one third QoS target according to the first QoS control information and the second QoS control information which are included in the QoS strategy information;

the receiving module is further configured to receive a fourth QoS target sent by the access network device, where the fourth QoS target is determined by the access network device according to the third QoS target, and the fourth QoS target is a QoS target that can be met by the access network device;

determining the second QoS goal based on the fourth QoS goal.

In a possible implementation manner, the sending module is further configured to: sending at least two QoS targets of the QoS flow to the access network device according to the QoS strategy information;

the receiving module is further configured to: receiving a fifth QoS objective sent by the access network device, wherein the fifth QoS objective is a QoS objective which can be met by the access network device, and the fifth QoS objective is determined by the access network device according to the at least two QoS objectives when the first QoS objective of the QoS flow can not be met;

the processing module is specifically configured to:

determining the second QoS target based on the fifth QoS target.

A thirteenth aspect of the present application provides a policy control function PCF network element, comprising:

a processing module, configured to determine a second QoS target of the service according to QoS policy information, where the second QoS target includes a second GBR, and the QoS policy information at least includes first QoS control information and second QoS control information;

In a possible implementation manner, the QoS policy information further includes priority information of the first QoS control information and priority information of the second QoS control information, and the processing module is specifically configured to:

determining the second QoS goal based on the fourth QoS goal.

In a possible implementation manner, the receiving module is further configured to receive a fifth QoS target sent by the SMF network element, where the fifth QoS target is determined by the SMF network element according to a QoS target that can be met by an access network device;

the processing module is specifically configured to:

determining the second QoS goal according to the fifth QoS goal.

receiving at least two QoS requirements sent by an Application Function (AF) network element;

A fourteenth aspect of the present application provides an application function AF network element, including:

a processing module, configured to determine a second QoS target of the service according to QoS policy information, where the second QoS target includes a second GBR, and the QoS policy information at least includes first QoS requirement information and second QoS requirement information;

In a possible implementation manner, the QoS policy information further includes priority information of the first QoS requirement information and priority information of the second QoS requirement information, and the processing module is specifically configured to:

determining the second QoS goal based on the fourth QoS goal.

receiving a fifth QoS target sent by the PCF network element, wherein the fifth QoS target is determined by the PCF network element according to the QoS target which can be met by an access network device;

the processing module is specifically configured to:

determining the second QoS target based on the fifth QoS target.

A fifteenth aspect of the present application provides a session management function SMF network element, including:

a receiver, configured to receive first indication information sent by an access network device, where the first indication information is used to indicate that a first QoS target of QoS flows cannot be met, where the first QoS target includes a first guaranteed flow bit rate GFBR, and the QoS flows are flows with the same QoS treatment;

a processor to:

within a first preset time, if the receiver receives second indication information sent by the access network device, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the first QoS target can be met, the QoS stream is not processed;

and in the first preset time, if the receiver does not receive the second indication information sent by the access network device, deleting or modifying the QoS flow.

In one possible implementation, the processor is further configured to: and in the first preset time, if the receiver receives third indication information sent by the access network device, wherein the third indication information is used for indicating that the first QoS target cannot be met, deleting or modifying the QoS flow.

In one possible implementation manner, the processor is further configured to: and determining an operation executed on the QoS flow according to the first indication information, wherein the operation is the deletion or modification of the QoS flow, and the state of the operation is a to-be-executed state.

In one possible implementation, the SMF network element further includes a transmitter;

the processor is specifically configured to: determining a second QoS target of the QoS flow according to QoS policy information, wherein the second QoS target comprises a second GFBR, and the QoS policy information comprises at least first QoS control information and second QoS control information;

the transmitter is configured to transmit the second QoS target to the access network device.

In a possible implementation manner, the QoS policy information further includes priority information of at least first QoS control information and priority information of second QoS control information, and the processor determines a second QoS target of the QoS flow according to the QoS policy information, including:

In one possible implementation manner, the determining, by the processor, the second QoS target of the QoS flow according to the QoS policy information includes:

In one possible implementation, the processor determines a second QoS target for the QoS flow based on the QoS policy information;

the transmitter is further configured to transmit the third QoS target to the access network device;

the receiver is further configured to receive a fourth QoS target sent by the access network device, where the fourth QoS target is determined by the access network device according to the third QoS target, and the fourth QoS target is a QoS target that can be met by the access network device;

determining the second QoS goal based on the fourth QoS goal.

In a possible implementation manner, the transmitter is further configured to transmit at least two QoS targets of the QoS flow to the access network device according to the QoS policy information;

the receiver is further configured to receive a fifth QoS target sent by the access network device, where the fifth QoS target is a QoS target that can be met by the access network device, and the fifth QoS target is determined by the access network device according to the at least two QoS targets when the first QoS target of the QoS flow cannot be met;

the processor determines a second QoS target for the QoS flow based on the QoS policy information, comprising:

determining the second QoS target based on the fifth QoS target.

In one possible implementation, the receiver is further configured to:

A sixteenth aspect of the present application provides an access network apparatus, comprising:

a transmitter, configured to send first indication information to a session management function SMF network element, where the first indication information is used to indicate that a first QoS target of a QoS flow of a user equipment UE cannot be met, the first QoS target includes a first guaranteed flow bit rate GFBR, and the first QoS flow is a flow with the same QoS treatment;

the transmitter is further configured to: and if the first QoS target can be met within a second preset time, sending second indication information to the SMF network element, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating that the first QoS target can be met.

In one possible implementation, the transmitter is further configured to:

In one possible implementation manner, the method further includes:

and a processor, configured to delete the second preset time if the access network device receives the request for deleting or modifying the QoS flow sent by the SMF network element within the second preset time.

In one possible implementation manner, the method further includes:

a receiver, configured to receive a second QoS target sent by the SMF network element, where the second QoS target includes a second GFBR;

a processor configured to modify the QoS flow according to the second QoS target.

In a possible implementation manner, before the receiver receives the second QoS target sent by the SMF network element, the receiver is further configured to: receiving at least one third QoS target sent by the SMF network element;

the access network apparatus further includes:

a processor configured to determine a fourth QoS target based on the third QoS target, the fourth QoS target being a QoS target that the access network device can satisfy;

the transmitter is further configured to send the fourth QoS target to the SMF network element.

a receiver, configured to receive at least two QoS targets of the QoS flow sent by the SMF network element;

a processor configured to select a fifth QoS target from the at least two QoS targets when the first QoS target of the QoS flow cannot be met, the fifth QoS target being a QoS target that the access network device can meet;

the transmitter is further configured to send the fifth QoS target to the SMF network element, so that the SMF network element determines the second QoS target according to the fifth QoS target.

A seventeenth aspect of the present application provides a policy control function PCF network element, comprising:

a receiver, configured to receive first indication information sent by a session management function SMF network element, where the first indication information is used to indicate that a first QoS target of a service cannot be met, and the first QoS target includes a first guaranteed bit rate GBR;

a processor configured to:

within a first preset time, if the receiver receives second indication information sent by the SMF network element, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the first QoS target can be met, not processing the QoS policy rule of the service;

and in the first preset time, if the receiver does not receive the second indication information sent by the SMF network element, deleting or modifying the QoS policy rule of the service.

In a possible implementation manner, within the first preset time, if the receiver receives third indication information sent by the SMF network element, where the third indication information is used to indicate that the first QoS target cannot be met, the processor is further configured to delete or modify the QoS policy rule of the service.

In one possible implementation, the processor is further configured to:

In one possible implementation, the modifying, by the processor, the QoS policy rule for the traffic includes:

the PCF network element further comprises:

a transmitter for transmitting the second QoS target to the SMF network element.

In a possible implementation manner, the QoS policy information further includes priority information of the first QoS control information and priority information of the second QoS control information, and the determining, by the processor, a second QoS target of the service according to the QoS policy information includes:

In one possible implementation manner, the determining, by the processor, the second QoS target of the service according to the QoS policy information includes:

In one possible implementation, the determining, by the processor, a second QoS target of the QoS flow according to the QoS policy information includes:

the transmitter is further configured to send the third QoS target to the SMF network element;

the receiver is further configured to receive a fourth QoS target sent by the SMF network element, where the fourth QoS target is determined by the SMF network element according to a QoS target that can be met by an access network device;

determining the second QoS goal based on the fourth QoS goal.

In a possible implementation manner, the receiver is further configured to: receiving a fifth QoS target sent by the SMF network element, wherein the fifth QoS target is determined by the SMF network element according to a QoS target which can be met by an access network device;

the processor determines a second QoS target for the service according to the QoS policy information, including:

determining the second QoS target based on the fifth QoS target.

In one possible implementation, the receiver is further configured to: receiving at least two QoS requirements sent by an Application Function (AF) network element;

the processor is further configured to generate the QoS policy information according to the at least two QoS requirements.

An eighteenth aspect of the present application provides an application function AF, including:

a receiver, configured to receive first indication information sent by a policy control function PCF network element, where the first indication information is used to indicate that a first QoS target of a service cannot be met, and the first QoS target includes a first guaranteed bit rate GBR;

a processor to:

within a first preset time, if the receiver receives second indication information sent by the PCF network element, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating that the first QoS target can be met, the QoS requirement of the service is not processed;

and in the first preset time, if the receiver does not receive the second indication information sent by the PCF network element, deleting or modifying the QoS requirement of the service.

In a possible implementation manner, within the first preset time, if the receiver receives third indication information sent by the PCF network element, where the third indication information is used to indicate that the first QoS target cannot be met, the processor is further configured to delete or modify the QoS requirement of the service.

In one possible implementation, the processor is further configured to:

In one possible implementation, the modifying the QoS requirement of the service by the processor includes:

the AF network element further includes:

a transmitter, configured to send the second QoS target to the PCF network element.

In a possible implementation manner, the QoS policy information further includes priority information of the first QoS requirement information and priority information of the second QoS requirement information, and the determining, by the processor, a second QoS target of the service according to the QoS policy information includes:

In one possible implementation, the determining, by the processor, the second QoS target of the service according to the QoS policy information includes:

In a possible implementation manner, the processor determines a second QoS target of the QoS flow according to QoS policy information, and determines at least one third QoS target according to the first QoS requirement information and the second QoS requirement information included in the QoS policy information;

the sender is further configured to send the third QoS target to the PCF network element;

the receiver is further configured to receive a fourth QoS target sent by the PCF network element, where the fourth QoS target is determined by the PCF network element according to a QoS target that can be met by an access network device;

determining the second QoS goal based on the fourth QoS goal.

In a possible implementation manner, the receiver is further configured to: receiving a fifth QoS target sent by the PCF network element, wherein the fifth QoS target is determined by the PCF network element according to the QoS target which can be met by an access network device;

determining the second QoS target based on the fifth QoS target.

A nineteenth aspect of the present application provides an SMF network element, comprising:

a receiver, configured to receive first indication information sent by an access network device, where the first indication information is used to indicate that a first QoS target of QoS flows, which includes a first GFBR, cannot be met, and the QoS flows are flows with the same QoS treatment;

a processor, configured to determine a second QoS target of the QoS flow according to QoS policy information, where the second QoS target includes a second GFBR, and the QoS policy information includes at least first QoS control information and second QoS control information;

a transmitter for transmitting the second QoS target to the access network device.

In a possible implementation manner, the QoS policy information further includes priority information of at least first QoS control information and priority information of second QoS control information, and the processor is specifically configured to:

In a possible implementation manner, the processor is specifically configured to:

In one possible implementation, the processor is specifically configured to:

determining the second QoS goal based on the fourth QoS goal.

In one possible implementation, the transmitter is further configured to: sending at least two QoS targets of the QoS flow to the access network device according to the QoS strategy information;

the receiver is further configured to: receiving a fifth QoS goal sent by the access network device, the fifth QoS goal being a QoS goal that the access network device can satisfy, the fifth QoS goal being determined by the access network device based on the at least two QoS goals when the first QoS goal of the QoS flows cannot be satisfied;

the processor is specifically configured to:

determining the second QoS target based on the fifth QoS target.

In a possible implementation manner, the receiver is further configured to:

A twentieth aspect of the present application provides a policy control function PCF network element, comprising:

a processor, configured to determine a second QoS target of the traffic according to QoS policy information, where the second QoS target includes a second GBR, and the QoS policy information at least includes first QoS control information and second QoS control information;

In a possible implementation manner, the QoS policy information further includes priority information of the first QoS control information and priority information of the second QoS control information, and the processor is specifically configured to:

In one possible implementation, the processor is specifically configured to:

determining the second QoS goal based on the fourth QoS goal.

In a possible implementation manner, the receiver is further configured to receive a fifth QoS target sent by the SMF element, where the fifth QoS target is determined by the SMF element according to a QoS target that can be met by an access network device;

the processor is specifically configured to:

determining the second QoS target based on the fifth QoS target.

In one possible implementation, the receiver is further configured to:

A twenty-first aspect of the present application provides an application function AF network element, including:

a processor, configured to determine a second QoS target of the traffic according to QoS policy information, where the second QoS target includes a second GBR, and the QoS policy information at least includes first QoS requirement information and second QoS requirement information;

In a possible implementation manner, the QoS policy information further includes priority information of the first QoS requirement information and priority information of the second QoS requirement information, and the processor is specifically configured to:

In one possible implementation, the processor is specifically configured to:

determining the second QoS goal based on the fourth QoS goal.

In one possible implementation, the receiver is further configured to:

the processor is specifically configured to:

determining the second QoS target based on the fifth QoS target.

A twenty-second aspect of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed, cause a computer to perform the method of controlling QoS flows as provided in the first aspect of the present application.

A twenty-third aspect of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed, cause a computer to perform the method of controlling QoS flows as provided in the second aspect of the present application.

A twenty-fourth aspect of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed, cause a computer to perform the method of controlling QoS flows as provided in the third aspect of the present application.

A twenty-fifth aspect of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed, cause a computer to perform the method of controlling QoS flows as provided in the fourth aspect of the present application.

A twenty-sixth aspect of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed, cause a computer to perform the method of controlling QoS flows as provided in the fifth aspect of the present application.

A twenty-seventh aspect of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed, cause a computer to execute the method of controlling a QoS flow as provided in the sixth aspect of the present application.

A twenty-eighth aspect of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed, cause a computer to perform the method of controlling QoS flows as provided in the seventh aspect of the present application.

A twenty-ninth aspect of the present application provides a system-chip, comprising a processing unit and a communication unit, the processing unit being executable by computer instructions to cause the system-chip to perform the method of any one of the first to seventh aspects.

According to the QoS flow control method and device, an SMF network element receives first indication information sent by an access network device, the first indication information is used for indicating that a first QoS target of QoS flow cannot be met, then the SMF network element judges whether second indication information sent by the access network device is received within first preset time, the second indication information is used for indicating that the first QoS target can be met, if the SMF network element receives the second indication information, QoS flow is not processed, and if the SMF network element does not receive the second indication information, QoS flow is deleted or modified. According to the method, when the QoS target of the QoS flow cannot be met, the SMF network element does not delete the QoS flow or modify the QoS flow immediately, but deletes or modifies the QoS flow after delaying the first preset time if the QoS target of the QoS flow cannot be met, so that the problem that the QoS flow cannot be served by the SMF network element or the QoS flow is reduced due to the fact that the SMF network element deletes or modifies the QoS flow immediately under the condition that resources of an access network device are short-term and short-term in shortage is solved.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture suitable for use in the present application;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a 5G network architecture;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a 5G network architecture based on a service interface in a non-roaming scenario;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a 5G network architecture based on a service interface in a Local breakout roaming scenario;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a reference point-based 5G network architecture in a Local breakout roaming scenario;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a 5G network architecture based on a service interface in a Home routed roaming scenario;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a reference point-based 5G network architecture in a Home routed roaming scenario;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling QoS flow according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9 is a flowchart of a QoS flow control method according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 10 is a flowchart of a QoS flow control method according to a third embodiment of the present application;

fig. 11 is a flowchart of a QoS flow control method according to a fourth embodiment of the present application;

fig. 12 is a signaling flowchart of a QoS flow control method according to a fifth embodiment of the present application;

fig. 13 is a signaling flowchart of a QoS flow control method according to a sixth embodiment of the present application;

fig. 14 is a signaling flowchart of a QoS flow control method according to a seventh embodiment of the present application;

fig. 15 is a signaling flowchart of a QoS flow control method according to an eighth embodiment of the present application;

fig. 16 is a flowchart of a QoS flow control method according to a ninth embodiment of the present application;

fig. 17 is a flowchart of a QoS flow control method according to a tenth embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 18 is a signaling flowchart of a QoS flow control method according to an eleventh embodiment of the present application;

fig. 19 is a flowchart of a QoS flow control method according to a twelfth embodiment of the present application;

fig. 20 is a flowchart of a QoS flow control method according to a thirteenth embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 21 is a signaling flowchart of a QoS flow control method according to a fourteenth embodiment of the present application;

fig. 22 is a schematic structural diagram of an SMF network element according to nineteenth embodiment of the present application;

fig. 23 is a schematic structural diagram of an access network apparatus according to a twentieth embodiment of the present application;

fig. 24 is a schematic structural diagram of a PCF network element according to twenty-first embodiment of the present application;

fig. 25 is a schematic structural diagram of an AF network element according to twenty two embodiments of the present application.

Detailed Description

The present application provides a method for controlling QoS flow (QoS flow), which may be applied in a 5G System, and may also be applied in an Evolved Packet System (EPS). Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a Network architecture suitable for the present application, and as shown in fig. 1, the Network architecture includes a UE, AN Access Network (AN), a core Network, and a Data Network (DN). The access network device is mainly used for realizing functions of a wireless physical layer, resource scheduling and wireless resource management, wireless access control, mobility management and the like; the core network device may include a management device and a gateway device, the management device is mainly used for device registration, security authentication, mobility management, location management, and the like of the terminal device, the gateway device is mainly used for establishing a channel with the terminal device, and forwarding a data packet between the terminal device and an external data network on the channel; the data network may include network devices (e.g., servers, routers, etc.), and is mainly used for providing various data service services for the terminal devices. It should be noted that fig. 1 is only an exemplary architecture diagram, and the network architecture may include other functional units besides the functional units shown in fig. 1, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present invention.

The network architecture may be a 5G network architecture, and fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of the 5G network architecture, where the 5G system is also referred to as a New wireless communication system, a New access technology (NR), or a next generation mobile communication system.

The access network in the 5G system may be a radio access network (R) AN, and the (R) AN device in the 5G system may be composed of a plurality of 5G- (R) AN nodes, and the 5G- (R) AN nodes may include: non-3 GPP access networks, such as Access Points (APs) of a WiFi network, next generation base stations (which may be collectively referred to as a new generation radio access network node (NG-RAN node), where the next generation base stations include a new air interface base station (NR node b, gNB), a new generation evolved base station (NG-eNB), a Central Unit (CU), a Distributed Unit (DU), a split-form gNB, and the like), a transceiving point (TRP), a Transmission Point (TP), or other nodes.

As shown in fig. 2, the 5G core/new generation core (5 GC/NGC) includes multiple functional units, such as an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) Network element, a Session Management Function (SMF) Network element, a User Plane Function (UPF) Network element, an Authentication Server Function (AUSF) Network element, a Policy Control Function (Policy Control Function, PCF) Network element, an Application Function (AF) Network element, a unified data Management Function (UDM) Network element, and a Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF) Network element.

The AMF network element is mainly responsible for services such as mobility management, access management and the like. The SMF network element is mainly responsible for session management, UE address management and allocation, dynamic host configuration protocol functions, selection and control of user plane functions, and the like. The UPF is mainly responsible for packet routing and forwarding, packet filtering, and performing quality of service (QoS) control related functions, etc., which are externally connected to a Data Network (DN) and a user plane. The AUSF is mainly responsible for authentication functions and the like of the terminal equipment. The PCF network element is mainly responsible for providing a unified policy framework for network behavior management, providing policy rules for control plane functions, obtaining registration information related to policy decisions, and the like. It should be noted that these functional units may work independently, or may be combined together to implement some control functions, such as access control and mobility management functions for terminal equipment, such as access authentication, security encryption, location registration, and session management functions for establishing, releasing, and changing a user plane transmission path.

The functional units in the 5GC can communicate with each other through a next generation Network (NG) interface, such as: the UE can transmit control plane information with the AMF network element through AN NG interface 1 (N1 for short), the RAN equipment can establish a user plane data transmission channel with the UPF through AN NG interface 3 (N3 for short), the AN/RAN equipment can establish control plane signaling connection with the AMF network element through AN NG interface 2 (N2 for short), the UPF can perform information interaction with the SMF network element through AN NG interface 4 (N4 for short), the UPF can perform information interaction with the data network DN through AN NG interface 6 (N6 for short), the AMF network element can perform information interaction with the SMF network element through AN NG interface 11 (N11 for short), the SMF network element can perform information interaction with the PCF network element through AN NG interface 7 (N7 for short), and the AMF network element can perform information interaction with the AUSF through AN NG interface 12 (N12 for short). It should be noted that fig. 2 is only an exemplary architecture diagram, and the network architecture may include other functional units besides the functional units shown in fig. 2.

The network architecture shown in fig. 2 is a reference point-based network architecture, and the network architecture is a network architecture in a non-roaming scenario, but the method of the present application may also be applied in a roaming scenario, and the network architecture is not limited to the reference point-based network architecture, and may also adopt a network architecture based on a service interface.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a 5G network architecture based on a service interface in a non-roaming scenario, and as shown in fig. 3, a core network of a 5G system further includes NEF and NRF network elements in the service interface scenario. Under the scene based on the service interface, part of network elements in the 5G core network are connected in a bus mode, as shown in fig. 3, an AUSF Network element, an AMF Network element, an SMF Network element, an AF Network element, an UDM, a PCF Network element, a Network storage Function (NRF) Network element, a Network open Function (NEF) Network element, and an NSSF Network element are interconnected by a bus, and when the Network elements are interconnected by the bus, a service interface is adopted, for example, an AUSF network element is connected to a bus through a Nausf interface, an AMF network element is connected to the bus through a Namf interface, an SMF network element is connected to the bus through a Nsmf interface, an AF network element is connected to the bus through a NAF network element interface, a UDM is connected to the bus through a numdm interface, a PCF network element is connected to the bus through a NPCF network element interface, an NRF is connected to the bus through a Nnrf interface, a NEF is connected to the bus through a Nnef interface, and a NSSF is connected to the bus through a NSSF interface.

According to the roaming service access policy of the mobile terminal, two roaming modes can be used: home routed roaming access, Local breakout roaming access. The Home routed roaming access refers to that a roaming user accesses and acquires services provided by a Home network through a gateway (or other devices with the same function as the gateway) of the Home network. Local breakout roaming access means that a roaming user obtains corresponding services through gateway access of a visited network, and a service provider can be a home network or a visited network.

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of a 5G Network architecture based on a service interface in a Local breakout roaming scenario, as shown in fig. 4, a Visited Public Land Mobile Network (VPLMN) is connected to an hsep of a Local Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN) through a vsep, the vsep and the hsep are connected through an N32 interface, and a DN of the VPLMN is Visited by a UE after roaming.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of a reference point-based 5G network architecture in a Local breakout kout roaming scenario, as shown in fig. 5, a visited PCF (vPCF) network element of a VPLMN is connected to a home PCF (hPCF) network element of the HPLMN through an N24 interface, an AMF network element of the VPLMN is connected to a UDM network element of the HPLMN through an N8 interface, an AMF network element of the VPLMN is connected to an AUSF network element of the HPLMN through an N12 interface, an SMF network element of the VPLMN is connected to a VPLMN UDM network element of the HPLMN through an N10 interface, and a DN of the VPLMN is visited by a UE after roaming.

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a 5G network architecture based on a service interface in a Home routed roaming scenario, and as shown in fig. 6, as compared with the architecture shown in fig. 4, except that a VPLMN is connected through vsep and hsep of an HPLMN, a UPF network element of the VPLMN is connected with a UPF network element of the HPLMN through an N9 interface, and the UPF network element of the HPLMN is connected with a DN, so that a UE after roaming accesses a DN of the HPLMN.

Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of a reference point-based 5G network architecture in a Home routed roaming scenario, as shown in fig. 7, a vPCF network element of a VPLMN is connected to an hPCF network element of an HPLMN through an N24 interface, an AMF network element of the VPLMN is connected to a UDM of the HPLMN through an N8 interface, an AMF network element of the VPLMN is connected to an AUSF of the HPLMN through an N12 interface, a vSMF network element of the VPLMN is connected to an hSMF network element of the HPLMN through an N16 interface, a vnsf of the VPLMN is connected to an hnsf interface of the HPLMN through an N31 interface, a UPF of the VPLMN is connected to an UPF interface of the HPLMN through an N9 interface, and an UPF network element of the HPLMN is connected to a DN, so that a UE after roaming accesses the DN of the HPLMN.

When the method of the present application is applied to an LTE system, the core network is an evolved packet core EPC, which includes: mobility Management (MME), packet data Gateway (P-GW), Serving Gateway (S-GW), Home network Server (HSS), and so on. The HSS is used for storing user subscription information, including user service information, authentication information, position management information and the like; the MME is responsible for functions of terminal access control, mobility management, session management, network element selection (such as S-GW/P-GW selection) and the like; the SGW is a mobility anchor point switched between eNBs and is responsible for functions of routing forwarding of user plane data and the like; the PGW is responsible for IP address allocation, packet data filtering, rate control, execution of charging rules, lawful interception, etc.

The UEs mentioned in this application may be: the mobile phone and the computer may also be a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a smart phone, a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a computer, a laptop computer, a handheld communication device, a handheld computing device, a satellite wireless device, a wireless modem card, a Set Top Box (STB), a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a smart home device, other devices for communicating on a wireless system, and the like.

Based on the network architecture shown above, the method for controlling QoS flows provided in the present application is applied to a bit rate guaranteed QoS Flow (GBR QoS Flow), where UE or network devices (including AN device and a core network device) process packets using the same QoS Flow the same, and the QoS Flow is distinguished by QoS Flow Identifiers (QFI). One QoS flow is either GBR QoS flow or non-GBR QoS flow, determined by the corresponding QoS profile (QoS profile).

The QoS profile of GBR QoS flow must contain the following QoS parameters: 5QI, Allocation and Reservation Priority (ARP), Guaranteed stream Bit Rate (GFBR), and Maximum stream Bit Rate (MFBR). Optionally, the QoS configuration file of GBR QoS flow further includes Notification control (Notification control), and the GBR QoS flow is divided into GRB QoS flow requiring the Notification control and GBR QoS flow not requiring the Notification control according to whether the QoS configuration file includes the Notification control. For GBR QoS flow requiring Notification control, when the access network device detects that the corresponding QoS flow resource cannot be satisfied, the access network device notifies the SMF network element of the event. Further SMF network elements may initiate QoS flow deletion or modification procedures.

5 QI: is a scalar for indexing to the corresponding 5G QoS profile, and the 5 QIs are classified into standardized 5 QIs, preconfigured 5 QIs, and dynamically assigned 5 QIs. For a standardized 5QI, there is a one-to-one correspondence with a set of standardized 5G QoS characteristics; for a preconfigured 5QI, a corresponding 5G QoS feature value is preconfigured in the access network device; for dynamically assigned 5QI, the corresponding 5G QoS characteristics are included in the QoS profile and sent to the access network device.

ARP: including priority level, preemption capability, and preempted capability.

RQA: for indicating that traffic transmitted using the corresponding QoS flow uses the reverse QoS.

Notification control: indicating the time of use of the AN at QoS flow, whether to inform the network when GFBR cannot be met.

GFBR: representing the guaranteed bit rate provided to GBR QoS flow.

MFBR: the bit rate provided to GBR QoS flow, i.e. the maximum bit rate provided to GBR QoS flow, is limited. E.g., exceeding the bit rate, the packet may be dropped.

GBR QoS flow may be controlled in a signaling-based manner, as follows: the SMF network element determines to establish QoS flow according to a local Policy or a Policy Control and Charging (PCC) rule sent by the PCF network element, the SMF network element sends SDF information to UPF, wherein the SDF information comprises QoS Control information, the QoS configuration file of the QoS flow is sent to the AN through the AMF network element, and the QoS rule is sent to the UE through the AMF network element and the AN, wherein the QoS Control information is contained.

And establishing QoS flow among the UE, the AN and the UPF, establishing or modifying a Data Radio Bearer (DRB) of AN air interface by the AN according to the QoS configuration file, and storing the binding relationship between the QoS flow and the DBR. After the QoS flow is bound to the DBR, the subsequent downlink data processing and uplink data processing are as follows:

and (3) downlink data processing: when the UPF receives the downlink data packet, the QoS control is executed according to the SDF information sent by the SMF network element, and the QFI is carried in the data packet header; and when receiving the downlink data packet, the AN places the data packet on the corresponding DRB for transmission according to the QFI in the packet header and the binding relationship between the corresponding QoS flow and the DRB.

And (3) uplink data processing: and when the UE determines to send the uplink data packet, the QoS flow is determined according to the QoS rule, the QFI is carried in the packet header, and the data packet is placed on the corresponding DRB for transmission according to the binding relationship between the QoS flow and the DBR. And when the AN receives the uplink data packet, the data packet header between the AN and the UPF contains the QFI according to the QFI in the uplink data packet header. And when receiving the data packet sent by the AN, the UPF verifies whether the data packet is transmitted by using the correct QoS flow.

Based on the network architecture, the application provides a method for controlling QoS flow, so as to solve the problem that in the prior art, under the condition of short-term resource shortage of an access network device, when an SMF network element receives indication information that a QoS target cannot be met, the QoS flow is immediately deleted or modified, so that a service cannot be obtained or the service quality of the service is reduced. The same contents in the following embodiments of the present application may be cited as each other.

Fig. 8 is a flowchart of a method for controlling QoS flow according to an embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 8, the method according to the embodiment includes the following steps:

step S101, the SMF network element receives first indication information sent by the access network device, where the first indication information is used to indicate that a first QoS target of QoS flow cannot be met, the first QoS target includes a first GFBR, and the QoS flow is a flow with the same QoS treatment.

The QoS flow is a flow having the same QoS treatment, i.e., traffic transmission treatment using the QoS flow is the same. During the operation of the QoS flow, the access network device may detect whether a first QoS target of the QoS flow can be met, where the first QoS target is a QoS target of the QoS flow, and the first QoS target includes a GFBR, and optionally, the first QoS target further includes packet processing requirements of a first MFBR, a 5QI, and the like. In one mode, when the access network device detects that the first QoS target cannot be met, optionally, if a Notification control is included in a configuration file of QoS flow, the access network device sends first indication information to an SMF network element. In another way, when the access network device detects that the first QoS target cannot be met, the access network device sends the first indication information to the SMF network element regardless of whether the Notification control is included in the configuration file of the QoS flow.

The first QoS target is QoS control information of QoS flow determined by the SMF network element based on QoS policy information provided by the PCF network element or local QoS policy information,

the SMF network element establishes the QoS flow for the UE according to the first QoS target. The QoS policy information may include one or at least two kinds of QoS control information, and when the QoS policy information includes one kind of QoS control information, the SMF network element determines the first QoS target according to the QoS control information. Optionally, when the QoS policy information may include at least two kinds of QoS control information, the SMF network element selects one kind of QoS control information from the at least two kinds of QoS control information, and determines the first QoS target according to the selected QoS control information.

When at least two kinds of QoS control information are included in the QoS policy information, one kind of QoS policy rule or at least two kinds of QoS policy rules may be included in the QoS policy information. When one kind of QoS policy rule is included in the QoS policy information, at least two kinds of QoS control information are included in the QoS policy. When the QoS policy information includes at least two QoS policy rules, in one manner, each QoS policy rule includes one QoS control information; in another mode, each QoS policy rule at least comprises two kinds of QoS control information; in another mode, the partial QoS policy rule includes one kind of QoS control information, and the partial QoS policy rule includes two kinds of QoS control information.

Optionally, the QoS policy information further includes priority information of each QoS control information, and when determining the first QoS target, the SMF network element may determine the first QoS target according to the priority information of each QoS control information, for example, preferentially select the QoS control information with the highest priority to determine the first QoS target. The priority information of the QoS control information may be the priority of the QoS policy rules, the PCF network element defines a priority for each QoS policy rule, the priority of the QoS control information corresponding to the high-priority QoS policy rule is also high, and if the QoS policy rules include two kinds of QoS control information, the PCF network element may further determine a priority for each kind of QoS control information included in the QoS policy rules.

The QoS Control information includes one or more QoS parameters such as 5QI, ARP, GBR, MBR, Notification Control, and the like. Furthermore, the QoS control information may further include one or more QoS attribute values such as a priority, a time window value, a maximum data burst size, and the like.

For example, the QoS policy information at least includes priority information of the first QoS control information and priority information of the second QoS control information, and the SMF network element determines the second QoS target of the QoS flow according to the priority information of the first QoS control information and the priority information of the second QoS control information included in the QoS policy information. For example, the SMF network element selects the QoS control information with a high priority from the first QoS control information and the second QoS control information, and determines the second QoS target according to the QoS control information with a high priority. By determining the second QoS target according to the priority information of the first QoS control information and the priority information of the second QoS control information, an optimal QoS target can be selected for QoS flow, thereby being able to guarantee QoS of QoS flow.

Optionally, the QoS control information includes GBR information, and when the QoS policy information does not include priority information of the QoS control information, the SMF network element may determine the second QoS target according to the GBR information of each QoS control information. For example, the SMF network element preferentially selects the QoS control information with a large GBR requirement to determine the second QoS target.

Step S102, in a first preset time, if the SMF element receives second indication information sent by the access network device, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the first QoS target can be met, the SMF element does not process the QoS flow, and if the SMF element does not receive the second indication information sent by the access network device, the SMF element deletes or modifies the QoS flow.

Optionally, before step S102, the SMF network element determines whether the second indication information sent by the access network device is received within a first preset time. In this embodiment, the first preset time may be implemented by a timer, and the timing time of the timer is equal to the first preset time. And before the timer is overtime, if the SMF network element does not receive the second indication information sent by the access network device, the SMF network element deletes or modifies the QoS flow.

After the access network device sends the first indication information, whether the first QoS target can be met or not is detected within second preset time, and if the first QoS target can be met within the second preset time, the access network device sends second indication information to the SMF network element; if the first QoS target cannot be met within the second preset time, optionally, the access network device may send third indication information to the SMF network element, where the third indication information is used to indicate that the first QoS target cannot be met, or the access network device does not send any message to the SMF network element.

Optionally, within the first preset time, if the SMF network element receives third indication information sent by the access network device, where the third indication information is used to indicate that the first QoS target cannot be met, the SMF network element deletes or modifies the QoS flow. And the SMF network element determines that the network resources of the access network device are still in short according to the third indication information, and the SMF network element decides to delete or modify the QoS flow in order to ensure the service quality of the service.

In this embodiment, if the SMF element receives the second indication information sent by the access network device within the first preset time, the SMF element determines that the first QoS target of the QoS flow can be satisfied according to the second indication information, which indicates that the resource shortage of the access network device is only temporary, and the SMF element does not process the QoS flow, where the SMF element does not process the QoS flow, which means that the QoS flow is not deleted or modified, and it is not guaranteed that the SMF element does not perform possible processing operations on other normal programs.

In this embodiment, if the SMF network element does not receive the second indication information sent by the access network device within the first preset time, the SMF network element determines that the first target of the QoS flow cannot be met, and the SMF network element deletes or modifies the QoS flow. Optionally, the SMF network element may decide to delete or modify the QoS flow according to a policy configured by the PCF network element, for example, the policy is defined as: and when the SMF network element receives the second indication information, reporting the second indication information to the PCF network element, and when the PCF network element determines to delete all the affected QoS strategy rules, deleting the QoS flow by the SMF network element, wherein the affected rules refer to the QoS strategy rules which cannot be met by the first QoS target. Alternatively, a policy is defined as: and when the PCF network element decides to modify part or all of the QoS strategy rules, the SMF network element modifies the corresponding QoS flow according to the modified rules.

In this embodiment, the modifying of QoS flow refers to modifying a first QoS target of QoS flow into a second QoS target, the deleting process of QoS flow may adopt an existing deleting process, the modifying process of QoS flow may adopt an existing modifying process, or adopt a modifying manner provided in embodiment two of the present application, and reference is made to the following embodiments, which are not described herein again.

In the prior art, when the QoS target of QoS flow cannot be met, the SMF network element immediately deletes or modifies QoS flow, which results in that QoS flow service cannot be obtained or the service quality of the service is reduced. The first preset time may be determined by the SMF network element according to a local policy or obtained from the PCF network element. Further or other functions with preset time, such as big data analysis.

Optionally, after receiving the first indication information, the SMF network element determines, according to the first indication information, an operation to be performed on the QoS flow, where the operation is to delete or modify the QoS flow, and the state of the operation is a to-be-performed state. In this embodiment, after determining the operation performed on the QoS flow, the SMF network element does not perform the operation immediately, but marks the state of the operation as the state to be executed. In a first preset time, if the SMF network element receives second indication information sent by the access network device, the SMF network element deletes the state information of the operation; and if the SMF network element does not receive the second indication information sent by the access network device, deleting or modifying the QoS flow by the SMF network element.

The SMF network element determines that the modification operation to the QoS flow is executed and comprises the following steps: the SMF network element determines a second QoS target of the QoS flow, and because the operation of determining the QoS flow and the detection of whether the second indication information is received can be executed in parallel, compared with the operation of determining the modification of the QoS flow after the first preset time, the time of the modification process of the QoS flow can be shortened, and the influence on the service is reduced.

It should be noted that the indication information (including the first indication information, the second indication information, the third indication information, and the like) related to the present embodiment and the following embodiments is a capability for indicating whether the apparatus can satisfy or not, or the indication information is used for indicating a state that the apparatus has satisfied.

In this embodiment, the SMF network element receives first indication information sent by the access network device, where the first indication information is used to indicate that a first QoS target of QoS flow cannot be met, then, the SMF network element determines whether a second indication information sent by the access network device is received within a first preset time, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the first QoS target can be met, if the SMF network element receives the second indication information, the QoS flow is not processed, and if the SMF network element does not receive the second indication information, the QoS flow is deleted or modified. According to the method, when the QoS target of the QoS flow cannot be met, the SMF network element does not delete the QoS flow or modify the QoS flow immediately, but deletes or modifies the QoS flow after delaying the first preset time if the QoS target of the QoS flow cannot be met, so that the problem that the QoS flow cannot be served by the SMF network element or the QoS flow is reduced due to the fact that the SMF network element deletes or modifies the QoS flow immediately under the condition that resources of an access network device are short-term and short-term in shortage is solved.

Fig. 9 is a flowchart of a QoS flow control method provided in the second embodiment of the present invention, and it should be noted that the methods in the first embodiment and the second embodiment may be used alone or in combination. When the method of the first embodiment is used alone, after determining to modify the QoS flow, the SMF network element modifies the QoS flow by using the existing modification procedure. When the embodiment one is combined with the embodiment two, after determining to modify the QoS flow, the SMF network element modifies the QoS flow by using the method of the embodiment two. As shown in fig. 9, the method provided by this embodiment includes the following steps:

step S201, the SMF network element receives first indication information sent by the access network device, where the first indication information is used to indicate that a first QoS target of QoS flow cannot be met, the first QoS target includes a first GFBR, and the QoS flow is a flow with the same QoS treatment.

Step S202, the SMF network element determines a second QoS target of QoS flow according to the QoS strategy information, wherein the second QoS target comprises a second GFBR, and the QoS strategy information at least comprises first QoS control information and second QoS control information.

In this embodiment, after receiving the first indication information, the SMF network element determines a second QoS target of the QoS flow according to the QoS policy information. The SMF network element needs to obtain the QoS policy information before determining the second QoS target of the QoS flow. In this embodiment, at least two kinds of QoS control information included in the QoS policy information can satisfy the QoS requirement of QoS flow, and therefore, the second QoS target determined according to the QoS control information can satisfy the QoS requirement of QoS flow.

The SMF network element may obtain the QoS policy information as follows: in one mode, the QoS policy information is pre-configured on the SMF network element; in another mode, the SMF network element receives QoS strategy information sent by the PCF network element; in another mode, the QoS policy information includes QoS policy information configured locally by the SMF network element and QoS policy information configured by the PCF network element. Optionally, the QoS policy information sent by the PCF network element is generated by the PCF network element according to one or at least two QoS requirements sent by the AF network element.

In this embodiment, the SMF network element may determine the second QoS target of QoS flow in the following manners:

in a first manner, the QoS policy information further includes priority information of each of at least two kinds of QoS control information, and the SMF element determines a second QoS target of the QoS flow according to the priority information of each kind of QoS control information included in the QoS policy information.

For example, if there is QoS control information with the same priority as that of the QoS control information corresponding to the first QoS target in the QoS policy information, the SMF network element determines the second QoS target according to the QoS control information with the same priority. And if the QoS strategy information does not have QoS control information with the same priority as the QoS control information corresponding to the first QoS target, the SMF network element selects QoS control information with the second priority of the QoS control information corresponding to the first QoS target, and determines a second QoS target according to the QoS control information with the second priority.

In the second mode, the SMF network element determines the second QoS target of the QoS flow according to the GBR information of the first QoS control information and the GBR information of the second QoS control information included in the QoS policy information.

And when the QoS strategy information comprises GBR information of QoS control information, the AMF network element determines a second QoS target of QoS flow according to the GBR information of each QoS control information. For example, the SMF network element selects QoS control information with the largest GBR from the remaining QoS control information, and determines the second QoS target according to the QoS control information with the largest GBR.

In a third mode, the SMF network element determines at least one third QoS target according to at least two kinds of QoS control information included in the QoS policy information, and then sends the third QoS target to the access network device, the SMF network element receives a fourth QoS target sent by the access network device, where the fourth QoS target is determined by the access network device according to the third QoS target, and the fourth QoS target is a QoS target that can be met by the access network device. And finally, the SMF network element determines a second QoS target according to the fourth QoS target.

In the first two modes, the SMF network element determines a second QoS target of the QoS flow according to the self mode, and in the third mode, the SMF network element and the access network device negotiate to determine the second QoS target, so that the second QoS target determined for the QoS flow can be matched with the resources of the access network device, and the resources of the access network device can be maximally utilized.

When determining the third QoS target according to at least two QoS control information, the SMF network element may also determine the third QoS target according to priority information or bandwidth requirement of the QoS control information, which is described above and is not described herein again. The number of the third QoS targets may be preconfigured, and the SMF network element may select a part of the QoS control information from the QoS policy information to determine the third QoS target, or may select all the QoS control information to determine the third QoS target, where each QoS control information generates one third QoS target. For example, the SMF network element selects a QoS control information with the highest priority to determine a third QoS target, or the SMF network element selects two QoS control information with higher priority to determine a third QoS target, respectively.

And after receiving the third QoS target, the access network device determines a fourth QoS target according to the third QoS target, wherein the fourth QoS target is a QoS target which can be met by the access network device. Illustratively, the access network device determines a fourth QoS target based on its available resources and the third QoS target. Optionally, the access network device selects a QoS target that can be satisfied by itself from the third QoS targets as a fourth QoS target. If none of the QoS targets in the third QoS target can be met by the access network device, the access network device may return a QoS target that it can meet beyond the third QoS target. Optionally, the fourth QoS target is a maximum QoS target that the access network device can meet.

When the SMF network element determines the second QoS target according to the fourth QoS target, the fourth QoS target may be directly used as the second QoS target, or the fourth QoS target may be processed to obtain the second QoS target, for example, the GFBR included in the fourth QoS target may float up and down within a certain range and then be used as the second QoS target.

In a fourth way, the SMF network element sends at least two QoS targets of QoS flow to the access network device, and the SMF network element may send at least two QoS targets of QoS flow to the access network device during the QoS flow establishment or modification process. And the SMF network element receives a fifth QoS target sent by the access network device, wherein the fifth QoS target is a QoS target which can be met by the access network device, and the fifth QoS target is determined by the access network device according to the at least two QoS targets when the first QoS target of the QoS flow can not be met. Correspondingly, the SMF network element determines the second QoS target according to the fifth QoS target.

In this method, the SMF network element and the access network device negotiate to determine the second QoS target, which is different from the third method in that: in the third mode, the SMF network element triggers the access network device to send the QoS target which can be met by the access network device; in the fourth mode, when the first QoS target cannot be met, the access network device actively reports the QoS target that can be met by the access network device, so that the SMF network element determines the second QoS target according to the QoS target that can be met by the access network device, thereby ensuring that the second QoS target determined for the QoS flow matches with the resource of the access network device, and enabling the resource of the access network device to be maximally utilized.

Optionally, when determining the fifth QoS target, the access network device determines according to the available resources and at least two QoS targets sent by the SMF network element. Alternatively, the access network device may select one QoS target from the at least two QoS targets as the fifth QoS target based on the available resources, e.g., the access network device selects a QoS target closest to the available resources from the at least two QoS targets as the fifth QoS target.

Step S203, the SMF network element sends the second QoS target to the access network device.

The SMF network element may actively send a second QoS target to the access network device to trigger modification of the QoS flow, or the SMF network element may send the second QoS target to the access network device when receiving a QoS flow modification notification instruction sent by the access network device.

Optionally, after receiving the first indication information, the SMF network element starts a timer, and deletes the timer after sending the second QoS target to the access network device, and certainly, the deletion time of the timer is not limited to be after sending the second QoS target, and the SMF network element may delete the timer at any time after starting the timer.

In this embodiment, the SMF network element receives first indication information sent by the access network device, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the first QoS target of the QoS flow cannot be met, and then the SMF network element determines, according to the QoS policy information, a second QoS target of the QoS flow, where the QoS policy information includes at least two kinds of QoS control information, and the SMF network element sends the second QoS target to the access network device. Compared with the prior art, the scheme of the embodiment modifies the QoS target of the QoS flow from the first QoS target to the second QoS target, and the QoS quality of the QoS flow cannot be reduced.

Fig. 10 is a flowchart of a QoS flow control method provided in a third embodiment of the present application, where the present embodiment describes the QoS flow control method from the perspective of an access network device, and as shown in fig. 10, the method of the present embodiment may include the following steps:

step S301, the access network device sends first indication information to the SMF network element, where the first indication information is used to indicate that a first QoS target of the QoS flow of the UE cannot be met, the first QoS target includes a first GFBR, and the first QoS flow is a flow with the same QoS treatment.

The access network device will check whether the first QoS target of the QoS flow can be met during the QoS flow operation. In one mode, when the access network device detects that the first QoS target cannot be met, optionally, if a Notification control is included in a configuration file of QoS flow, the access network device sends first indication information to an SMF network element. In another way, when the access network device detects that the first QoS target cannot be met, the access network device sends the first indication information to the SMF network element regardless of whether the Notification control is included in the configuration file of the QoS flow.

Step S302, if the first QoS target can be met within a second preset time, the access network device sends second indication information to the SMF network element, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the first QoS target can be met.

Optionally, if the first QoS target cannot be met within the second preset time, the access network device sends third indication information to the SMF network element, where the third indication information is used to indicate that the first QoS target cannot be met.

In this embodiment, when determining whether the first QoS target can be satisfied, the access network device determines whether the first QoS target is satisfied based on a state of the first QoS target within a second preset time, that is, based on a state of the QoS flow within a whole time period of the second preset time. And the determination of the access network apparatus may be at or after the end of the second preset time.

The second preset time can be realized by a timer, the access network device starts the timer after sending the first indication information, the timing time of the timer is equal to the second preset time, before the timer is overtime, the access network device detects whether the first QoS target can be met, before the timer is overtime, if the first QoS target can be met, the access network device sends second indication information to the SMF network element, and when the timer is overtime, if the first QoS target cannot be met, the access network device sends third indication information to the SMF network element.

Optionally, the second preset time is calculated by a timer, and in the second preset time, if the access network device receives a request for deleting or modifying the QoS flow sent by the SMF network element, the access network device deletes the timer. And after the access network device deletes the timer, correspondingly deleting the QoS flow information, initiating an RRC modification flow to the UE, and deleting the binding relationship between the QoS flow and the DRB, or deleting the corresponding DRB, or modifying the corresponding DRB.

Optionally, if the access network device does not receive the QoS flow modification flow or deletion flow sent by the SMF network element, the access network device sends a QoS flow deletion request to the SMF network element. Optionally, after the access network device sends the third indication information, if the QoS flow modification procedure or the QoS flow deletion procedure sent by the SMF network element is not received within a third preset time, the access network device may send a QoS flow deletion request to the SMF network element to trigger the QoS flow deletion procedure. The third preset time may be implemented by a timer, the access network device starts the timer after sending the third indication information, and before the timer expires, if a QoS flow modification flow or a QoS flow deletion flow sent by the SMF network element is not received, the access network device may send a QoS flow deletion request to the SMF network element, where the QoS flow deletion request indicates to delete the QoS flow.

Optionally, after sending the third indication message, the access network device receives a deletion request sent by the SMF network element, where the deletion request is used to delete the QoS flow.

In this embodiment, the access network device sends first indication information to the SMF network element, where the first indication information is used to indicate that a first QoS target of the QoS flow of the UE cannot be met, and within a second preset time, if the first QoS target can be met, the access network device sends second indication information to the SMF network element, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the first QoS target can be met, and if the first QoS target cannot be met, the access network device sends third indication information to the SMF network element, and the third indication information is used to indicate that the first QoS target cannot be met. According to the method, when the first QoS target cannot be met, the access network device detects whether the first QoS target can be met or not within the second preset time after sending the first indication information, and informs the SMF network element, so that the SMF network element does not delete QoS flow or modify QoS flow immediately when the QoS target of QoS flow cannot be met, but deletes or modifies QoS flow after delaying the first preset time if the QoS target of QoS flow cannot be met, and the problem that the QoS flow cannot be obtained by QoS flow or the service quality of the QoS flow is reduced due to the fact that the SMF network element deletes or modifies QoS flow immediately under the condition that resources of the access network device are short in shortage is avoided.

Fig. 11 is a flowchart of a QoS flow control method provided in a fourth embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 11, the method of the present embodiment may further include the following steps based on the third implementation:

step S401, the access network apparatus sends first indication information to the SMF network element, where the first indication information is used to indicate that a first QoS target of the QoS flow of the UE cannot be met, and the first QoS target includes a first GFBR.

Step S402, in a second preset time, if the first QoS target cannot be met, the access network device sends third indication information to the SMF network element, where the third indication information is used to indicate that the first QoS target cannot be met.

Step S403, the access network device receives a second QoS target sent by the SMF network element, where the second QoS target includes a second GFBR.

After the access network device sends the first indication information, if the SMF network element determines to modify the QoS flow according to the first indication information, the SMF network element sends a second QoS target to the access network device.

And S404, the access network device modifies the QoS flow according to the second QoS target.

And the access network device modifies the target of the QoS flow from the first QoS target to the second QoS target according to the second QoS target.

Optionally, before the access network device receives the second QoS target sent by the SMF network element, the access network device receives at least one third QoS target sent by the SMF network element, and determines a fourth QoS target according to the third QoS target, optionally, the access network device selects one QoS target from the third QoS targets as the fourth QoS target, where the fourth QoS target is a QoS target that the access network device can meet, and the access network device sends the fourth QoS target to the SMF network element. The access network device sends the fourth QoS target to the SMF network element so that the SMF network element determines a second QoS target according to the fourth QoS target, and the determined second QoS target is matched with the resource direction of the access network device, so that the resource of the access network device is utilized to the maximum.

Optionally, before the access network device sends the first indication information to the SMF network element, at least two QoS targets of the QoS flow sent by the SMF network element are received, where the at least two QoS targets may be sent by the SMF network element to the access network device when the QoS flow is established. When the first QoS target of the QoS flow can not be met, the access network device selects a fifth QoS target from at least two QoS targets, the QoS target which can be met by the access network device is sent to the SMF network element by the access network device, so that the SMF network element determines a second QoS target according to the fifth QoS target, and the determined second QoS target is matched with the resource direction of the access network device, so that the resource of the access network device is utilized to the maximum.

In this embodiment, the access network device sends first indication information to the SMF network element, where the first indication information is used to indicate that a first QoS target of the QoS flow of the UE cannot be met, and within a second preset time, if the first QoS target cannot be met, the access network device sends third indication information to the SMF network element, where the third indication information is used to indicate that the first QoS target cannot be met, and the access network device receives a second QoS target sent by the SMF network element and modifies the QoS flow according to the second QoS target. The second QoS target determined by the SMF network element can meet the requirement of QoS flow, so that the QoS of the service is ensured.

Fig. 12 is a signaling flowchart of a QoS flow control method provided in a fifth embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 12, the method provided in this embodiment includes the following steps:

step S501, the UE establishes a PDU session (session) with the network.

The session establishment process may refer to an existing establishment procedure, which is not described herein again. Optionally, the SMF network element sends a timer value to the access network device during session establishment.

Step S502, when the AF network element determines that the UE establishes the service, the AF network element sends the service information and at least two GBR QoS requirements to the PCF network element.

The AF network element may carry the service information and at least two GBR QoS requirements in the NPCF network element _ PolicyAuthorization _ create _ service flow and send the service information and the GBR QoS requirements to the PCF network element. The GBR QoS requirements include a notification control indication. Optionally, the service flow further includes priority information of two GBR QoS requirements.

Step S503, the PCF network element sends at least two kinds of GBR QoS control information to the SMF network element.

The PCF network element may carry the at least two GBR QoS control information in an Npcf _ SMPolicyControl _ UpdateNotify service, which is sent by the PCF network element according to the service request of the AF network element, to the SMF network element, where the GBR QoS control information is generated by the PCF network element according to the GBR QoS requirement sent by the AF network element. Optionally, the service further includes priority information of the GBR QoS control information.

Step S504, the SMF network element establishes a corresponding QoS flow according to the message sent by the PCF network element.

The SMF network element may establish a corresponding QoS flow according to the service message sent by the PCF network element, and in the establishment process, the SMF network element activates or establishes the corresponding QoS flow according to the priority information of the GBR QoS control information, that is, the GBR QoS control information with the highest priority is used to establish the QoS flow first, and the QoS target corresponding to the GBR QoS control information with the highest priority is the first QoS target. When the SMF network element does not acquire the priority information of the GBR QoS control information, the SMF network element determines to preferentially use the QoS control information with high bandwidth demand or high guaranteed bit rate GBR to establish QoS flow according to the bandwidth demand or guaranteed bit rate GBR information of the GBR QoS control information, and a QoS target corresponding to the QoS control information with high bandwidth demand is a first QoS target.

Step S505, the UE and the network establish QoS flow based on Notification control.

Step S506, when the access network device detects that the first QoS target of the QoS flow cannot be met, the access network device starts a timer.

And when detecting that the first QoS target cannot be met, the access network device reads the configuration file of the QoS flow, and when the configuration file of the QoS flow comprises a Notification control, the access network device starts a timer.

Step S507, the access network device sends the first indication information to the AMF network element.

The first indication information is used to indicate that the first QoS target cannot be met, and the access network device may carry the first indication information in an N2message and send the message to the AMF network element, where the N2message includes a PDU session ID and N2SM information. The N2SM information includes an identifier (QFI) of the QoS flow and first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the first QoS target of the QoS flow cannot be met.

Step S508, the AMF network element sends the first indication information to the SMF network element.

The AMF network element may send the SMF network element to a message carrying the first indication information in an Nsmf pdusessudbatesmcontext, where the message includes the QFI and the first indication information.

Step S509, the SMF network element determines to modify the QoS flow according to at least two GBR QoS control information sent by the PCF network element.

In this embodiment, the SMF network element may determine the second QoS target of the QoS flow according to the priority information or bandwidth requirement of the GBR QoS control information.

And step S510, QoS flow modifying flow.

Optionally, the QoS flow modification process may include the following steps (not shown in the figure):

s5101, the SMF network element sends the second QoS target to the AMF network element.

The SMF network element may send the second QoS target to the AMF network element in a Namf _ Communication _ N1N2MessageTransfer message, which includes the N2SM information and the N1 SM container. The N2SM information includes PDU session ID, QFI and QoS configuration file (including the second QoS target); the N1 SM container contains the PDU session ID, the QoS rules that cannot be met (including the first QoS target) and the operation of the QoS rules (e.g., delete or modify).

S5102, the AMF network element sends the second QoS target to the access network device.

The AMF network element may carry the second QoS target in an N2 PDU session request to send to the access network device, where the request includes the N2SM information and the NAS message received from the SMF network element. The NAS message contains a PDU session ID and an N1 SM container. And after receiving the second QoS target, the access network device deletes the started timer.

S5103, the access network apparatus and the UE execute a specific signaling procedure.

And the access network device executes a specific signaling flow with the UE according to the information sent by the SMF network element. For example, when the UE accesses the 3GPP RAN, the RRC connection reconfiguration between the UE and the access network device is performed to modify the corresponding RAN resource.

S5104, the access network device interacts with the core network equipment, and QoS flow is modified.

S5105, the access network device sends an N2 session response to the AMF network element.

The N session response message includes N2SM information.

S5106, the AMF network element uses an Nsmf _ PDSUSession _ UpdateSMContext service operation, and the service comprises N2SM information. The SMF network element sends an Nsmf _ PDSUSession _ UpdateSMContext response to the AMF network element;

s5107, the UE sends NAS information response PDU conversation modification command, the NAS information comprises a PDU conversation ID and an N1 SM container, and the N1 SM container is determined by the PDU conversation modification command.

S5108, the access network device forwards the NAS message to the AMF network element.

S5109, the AMF network element forwards the N1 SM container to the SMF network element by using the Nsmf _ PDSUSession _ UpdateSMContext. And the SMF network element sends an Nsmf _ PDUSESISUpdateSMContext response to the AMF network element.

S5110, the SMF network element and the UPF execute the PDU conversation modifying flow.

S5111, the SMF network element sends Nsmf _ EventExposure _ Notify to the PCF network element, which contains the affected PCC rule. And the PCF network element sends a response message to the SMF network element.

S5112, the PCF network element sends an Npcf _ EventExposure _ Notify to the AF network element, including the QoS requirement of the executed service. And the AF network element sends a response message to the PCF network element.

In this embodiment, a network architecture adopts a mode of communication based on a service interface as an example to describe a control process of QoS flow, and certainly, a mode of communication based on a service interface may not be adopted, and accordingly, messages exchanged between network elements may be different, but contents carried in the messages for QoS control are the same.

Fig. 13 is a signaling flowchart of a QoS flow control method according to a sixth embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 13, the method according to the present embodiment includes the following steps:

step S601, the UE establishes a PDU session (session) with the network.

The session establishment process may refer to an existing establishment procedure, which is not described herein again. Optionally, the SMF network element sends a timer value to the access network device during the session establishment procedure.

Step S602, when the AF network element determines to establish the service for the UE, the AF network element sends the service information and at least two GBR QoS requirements to the PCF network element.

The AF network element may carry the service information and at least two GBR QoS requirements in an Npcf _ PolicyAuthorization _ create _ service flow and send the service information and the GBR QoS requirements to the PCF network element. The GBR QoS requirement includes a notification control indication. Optionally, the service flow further includes priority information of two GBR QoS requirements.

Step S603, the PCF network element sends at least two kinds of GBR QoS control information to the SMF network element.

The PCF network element may carry the at least two GBR QoS control information in an Npcf _ SMPolicyControl _ UpdateNotify service, which is sent by the PCF network element according to the service request of the AF network element, and the GBR QoS control information is generated by the PCF network element according to the GBR QoS requirement sent by the AF network element. Optionally, the service further includes priority information of the GBR QoS control information.

Step S604, the SMF network element establishes a corresponding QoS flow according to the message sent by the PCF network element.

The SMF network element may establish a corresponding QoS flow according to the service message sent by the PCF network element, and in the establishment process, the SMF network element activates the corresponding QoS flow according to the priority information of the GBR QoS control information, that is, the GBR QoS control information with the highest priority is used to establish the QoS flow first, and the QoS target corresponding to the GBR QoS control information with the highest priority is the first QoS target. When the SMF network element does not acquire the priority information of the GBR QoS control information, the SMF network element determines to preferentially use the QoS control information with high bandwidth demand or high guaranteed bit rate information to establish QoS flow according to the bandwidth demand or the guaranteed bit rate information of the GBR QoS control information, and a QoS target corresponding to the QoS control information with high bandwidth demand is a first QoS target.

Step S605, the UE establishes QoS flow based on Notification control with the network.

Step S606, when the access network device detects that the first QoS target of the QoS flow cannot be met, the access network device starts a timer.

And when detecting that the first QoS target cannot be met, the access network device reads a configuration file of the QoS flow, and when the configuration file of the QoS flow comprises a Notification control, the access network device starts a timer.

Step S607, the access network device sends the first indication information to the AMF network element.

The access network device may carry the first indication information in an N2message and send the message to the AMF network element, where the N2message includes a PDU session ID and N2SM information. The N2SM information includes an identifier (QFI) of the QoS flow and first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the first QoS target of the QoS flow cannot be met.

Step S608, the AMF network element sends the first indication information to the SMF network element.

The AMF network element may carry the first indication information in an Nsmf pdusessutesmcontext message, and send the message to the SMF network element, where the message includes the QFI and the first indication information.

Step S609, the SMF network element determines at least one third QoS target of QoS flow according to at least two GBR QoS control information sent by the PCF network element.

Specifically, the specific manner of determining the third QoS target by the SMF network element refers to the description related to the second embodiment, and is not described herein again.

Step S610, the SMF network element sends the third QoS target to the AMF network element.

The SMF network element may send the third QoS target to the AMF network element in a Namf __ Communication _ N1N2MessageTransfer message, which includes the N2SM information and the N1 SM container. Wherein, the N2SM information includes PDU session ID, QFI and QoS profile (including the third QoS target); the N1 SM container contains the PDU session ID, the QoS rules that cannot be met (including the first QoS target), and the operation of the QoS rules (e.g., delete or modify).

Step S611, the AMF network element sends the third QoS target to the access network device.

The AMF network element may send a session request, which is carried by the third QoS target in the N2 PDU, to the access network device, where the session request includes the N2SM information and the NAS message received from the SMF network element. The NAS message contains a PDU session ID and an N1 SM container.

Step S612, the access network device deletes the started timer, and determines the fourth QoS according to the third QoS.

And after receiving the third QoS target, the access network device deletes the started timer, and determines a fourth QoS target according to the received third QoS target and the available resources, wherein the fourth QoS target is the QoS target which can be reached by the access network device.

Step S613, the access network device sends the fourth QoS target to the AMF network element.

The access network device may carry the fourth QoS target in AN N2 session response, and send the session response to the AMF network element, where the session response message includes N2SM information, the N2SM information includes (R) a fourth QoS target supported by the AN, the fourth QoS target includes a fourth GFBR, and optionally, the fourth QoS target further includes a fourth MFBR.

Step S614, the AMF network element sends the fourth QoS target to the SMF network element.

The AMF network element may carry the fourth QoS target in an operation of an Nsmf __ pdusesion _ UpdateSMContext service, send the fourth QoS target to the SMF network element, where the service includes N2SM information, and the SMF network element sends an Nsmf __ pdusesion _ UpdateSMContext response to the AMF network element.

And step S615, the SMF network element determines a second QoS target according to the fourth QoS target.

Step S616, QoS flow modifying flow.

s6161, SMF net element sends second QoS target to AMF net element.

The SMF network element may send the second QoS target to the AMF network element in a naf __ Communication _ N1N2MessageTransfer message, which includes N2SM information and a N1 SM container. The packet PDU session ID, QFI and QoS profile (containing the second QoS target) in the N2SM message; the N1 SM container contains the PDU session ID, the QoS rules that cannot be met (including the first QoS target) and the operation of the QoS rules (e.g., delete or modify).

S6162, the AMF network element sends the second QoS target to the access network device.

S6163, the access network device and the UE execute a specific signaling procedure.

And the access network device executes a specific signaling flow with the UE according to the information sent by the SMF network element. For example, when the UE accesses the 3GPP RAN, the RRC connection reconfiguration is performed between the UE and the access network device to modify the corresponding RAN resource.

S6164, the access network device interacts with the core network equipment to realize the modification of QoS flow.

S6165, the access network device sends an N2 session response to the AMF network element.

The N session response message includes N2SM information.

S6166, AMF network element uses Nsmf __ PDScession _ UpdateSMContext service operation, the service includes N2SM information. The SMF network element sends an Nsmf __ PDSUSession _ UpdateSMContext response to the AMF network element;

s6167, UE sends NAS news response PDU conversation to revise the order, contain PDU conversation ID in NAS news, and N1 SM container, N1 SM container is PDU conversation to revise the order and confirm.

S6169, the access network device forwards the NAS message to the AMF network element.

S6195, the AMF network element uses the Nsmf __ PDScession _ UpdateSMContext to forward the N1 SM container to the SMF network element. The SMF network element sends an Nsmf __ PDSUSession _ UpdateSMContext response to the AMF network element.

And S6169, the SMF network element and the UPF execute a PDU session modification process.

S6170, the SMF network element sends Nsmf __ EventExposure _ Notify to the PCF network element, which contains the affected PCC rule. And the PCF network element sends a response message to the SMF network element.

S6171, the PCF network element sends Npcf _ EventExposure _ Notify to the AF network element, including the QoS requirement of the executed service. And the AF network element sends a response message to the PCF network element.

In this embodiment, after the access network device sends the first indication information to the SMF network element, the SMF network element determines and executes the QoS flow modification procedure. On the basis of the second embodiment, in another possible implementation manner of the present application, after receiving the first indication information, the SMF network element determines to modify the QoS flow, but the SMF network element does not immediately execute the QoS flow modification procedure, but marks the modification operation in an unexecuted state, and when receiving the second indication information, initiates the QoS flow modification procedure or the QoS negotiation procedure, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the first QoS is still not satisfied. The method can avoid the problem that the QoS flow service can not obtain service or the service quality of the service is reduced due to the fact that the SMF network element immediately deletes or modifies the QoS flow under the condition that the resources of the access network device are short in time.

Fig. 14 is a signaling flowchart of a QoS flow control method according to a seventh embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 14, the method according to the present embodiment includes the following steps:

step S701, the UE establishes a PDU session (session) with the network.

The session establishment process may refer to an existing establishment procedure, which is not described herein again.

Step S702, when the AF network element determines to establish the service for the UE, the AF network element sends the service information and at least two GBR QoS requirements to the PCF network element.

The AF network element may carry the service information and the at least two GBR QoS requirements in an Npcf _ PolicyAuthorization _ create _ service flow, and send the service information and the at least two GBR QoS requirements to the PCF network element. The GBR QoS requirement includes a notification control indication. Optionally, the service flow further includes priority information of two GBR QoS requirements.

Step S703, PCF network element sends at least two kinds of GBR QoS control information to SMF network element.

Step S704, the SMF network element establishes a corresponding QoS flow according to the message sent by the PCF network element.

The SMF network element may establish a corresponding QoS flow according to the service message sent by the PCF network element, and in the establishment process, the SMF network element activates the corresponding QoS flow according to the priority information of the GBR QoS control information, that is, the GBR QoS control information with the highest priority is used to establish the QoS flow first, and the QoS target corresponding to the GBR QoS control information with the highest priority is the first QoS target. When the SMF network element does not acquire the priority information of the GBR QoS control information, the SMF network element determines to preferentially use the QoS control information with high bandwidth demand to establish QoS flow according to the bandwidth demand of the GBR QoS control information, and a QoS target corresponding to the QoS control information with high bandwidth demand is a first QoS target.

Step S705, the UE and the network establish a QoS flow based on Notification control.

In this embodiment, in the process of establishing QoS flow between the UE and the network, the SMF network element sends at least two sets of QoS targets to the access network device.

Step S706, when the access network device detects that the first QoS target of the QoS flow cannot be met, the access network device starts a timer.

The access network device reads the configuration file of the QoS flow when detecting that the first QoS target can not be met, starts a timer when the configuration file of the QoS flow comprises a Notification control, and determines a fifth QoS target according to at least two QoS targets sent by the SMF network element, wherein the fifth QoS target is the QoS target which can be met by the access network device.

Step S707, the access network device sends the first indication information and the fifth QoS target to the AMF network element.

The first indication information is used to indicate that the first QoS target cannot be met, and the access network device may carry the first indication information and the fifth QoS target in an N2message and send the message to the AMF network element, where the N2message includes a PDU session ID and N2SM information. The N2SM information includes an identifier (QFI) of the QoS flow and first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that a first QoS target of the QoS flow cannot be met.

Step S708, the AMF network element sends the first indication information and the fifth QoS target to the SMF network element.

The AMF network element may send a message carrying the first indication information and the fifth QoS target in the NSMF network element _ pdusessunewatesmcontext to the SMF network element, where the message includes the QFI and the first indication information.

Step S709, the SMF network element interacts with the PCF network element according to the first indication information, and notifies that the first QoS target cannot be met.

And step S710, the SMF network element determines a second QoS target according to the fifth QoS target.

Step 711, QoS flow modification flow.

s7110, the SMF network element sends a second QoS target to the AMF network element.

The SMF network element may send the second QoS target to the AMF network element in a Namf _ Communication _ N1N2MessageTransferr message, which includes N2SM information and N1 SM container. Wherein, the N2SM information includes PDU session ID, QFI and QoS configuration file (including the second QoS target); the N1 SM container contains the PDU session ID, the QoS rule that cannot be met (containing the first QoS target), and the operation of that QoS rule (e.g., delete or modify).

And S7111, the AMF network element sends the second QoS target to the access network device.

The AMF network element may send the session request carrying the second QoS target in N2 PDU to the access network device, where the session request includes the N2SM information and the NAS message received from the SMF network element. The NAS message contains a PDU session ID and an N1 SM container.

S7112, the access network apparatus performs a specific procedure with the UE according to the second QoS target.

For example, when the UE accesses the 3GPP RAN, the RRC connection reconfiguration between the UE and the access network device is performed to modify the corresponding RAN resource.

And S7113, the access network device interacts with the core network equipment to realize the modification of the QoS flow.

S7114, the access network device sends an N2 session response to the AMF network element.

The N session response message includes N2SM information.

S7115, the AMF network element uses the operation of the Nsmf _ PDSUSessionUpdateSMContext service, and the service comprises N2SM information. The SMF network element sends an Nsmf _ PDUSession _ UpdateSMContext response to the AMF network element;

s7116, the UE sends NAS information response PDU conversation amending order, the NAS information includes PDU conversation ID and N1 SM container, the N1 SM container is determined for the PDU conversation amending order.

And S7117, the access network device transmits the NAS message to the AMF network element.

S7118, the AMF network element uses the Nsmf _ PDSUSession _ UpdateSMContext to forward the N1 SM container to the SMF network element. And the SMF network element sends an Nsmf _ PDUSESISUpdateSMContext response to the AMF network element.

And S7119, the SMF network element and the UPF execute a PDU session modification process.

And S7120, the SMF network element sends the Nsmf _ EventExposure _ Notify to the PCF network element, and the affected PCC rules are contained. And the PCF network element sends a response message to the SMF network element.

S7121, the PCF network element sends an Npcf _ EventExposure _ Notify to the AF network element, including the QoS requirement of the executed service. And the AF network element sends a response message to the PCF network element.

Optionally, after a period of time, when the access network device detects that the first QoS target can be met, the access network device notifies the SMF network element, so that the SMF network element can reuse the first QoS target to transmit the service.

Fig. 15 is a signaling flowchart of a QoS flow control method according to an eighth embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 15, the method according to the present embodiment includes the following steps:

step S801, the UE establishes a PDU session (session) with the network.

Step S802, the UE and the network establish QoS flow based on Notification control.

Step S803, the access network device detects that the first QoS target of the QoS flow cannot be met and the configuration file of the QoS flow includes the Notification control.

Step S804, the access network device sends the first indication information to the AMF network element.

Step S805, the AMF network element sends the first indication information to the SMF network element.

The AMF network element may carry the first indication information in an NSMF network element _ pdusessutemecontext message, which includes the QFI and the first indication information, and send the message to the SMF network element.

Step S806, the SMF network element determines an operation on the QoS flow (including modifying or deleting the QoS flow) according to the first indication information, starts a timer, and marks a state of the operation as to be executed.

And the SMF network element interacts with the PCF network element to determine and modify the corresponding QoS flow or delete the QoS flow according to the first indication information. The value of the timer can be obtained in the process of interaction between the SMF network element and the PCF network element, or obtained from the PCF network element or the UDM in the process of PDU session establishment.

Step S807, within a second preset time, the access network device detects that the first QoS target of the QoS flow is satisfied.

Step S808, the access network device sends second indication information to the AMF network element.

The second indication information is used to indicate that the first QoS target is met, and the access network device may carry the second indication information in an N2message to send to the AMF network element, where the message includes a PDU session ID and N2SM information. The N2SM information includes QFI and second indication information.

Step S809, the AMF network element sends the second indication information to the SMF network element.

The AMF network element may carry the second indication information in an Nsmf pdusessutesmcontext, and send the message to the SMF network element, where the message further includes QFI. When the SMF network element receives the second indication message, the timer is deleted and the PCF network element is notified of the event (i.e. the first QoS target arrives). And the SMF network element deletes the state information of the operation of the QoS flow.

Step S810, if the SMF element does not receive the second indication information within the first preset time, the SMF element executes the QoS flow modification procedure.

Optionally, the QoS flow modification procedure includes the following steps (not shown in the figure):

s8101 sends a deletion or modification request for QoS flow to the AMF network element.

For example, the SMF network element sends a Namf _ Communication _ N1N2MessageTransfer to the AMF network element, which includes N2SM information and N1 SM container. Packet PDU session ID, QFI and QoS profile (second QoS target) in N2SM message; the N1 SM container contains the PDU session ID, the QoS rules that cannot be met (including the first QoS target), and the operation of the QoS rules (e.g., delete or modify).

And S8102, the AMF network element sends a request for deleting or modifying the QoS flow to the access network device.

The AMF network element may carry the QoS flow deletion or modification request in an N2 PDU session request to the access network device, where the request includes the N2SM information and the NAS message received from the SMF network element. The NAS message contains a PDU session ID and an N1 SM container.

The SS8103 and the access network device execute a specific process with the UE according to the second QoS target.

For example, when the UE accesses the 3GPP RAN, the RRC connection reconfiguration is performed between the UE and the access network device to modify the corresponding RAN resource.

And S8104, interacting the access network device and the core network equipment to realize the modification of the QoS flow.

The interaction process between the access network device and the core network device may adopt the existing flow, and this embodiment takes the network architecture adopting the mode of communication based on the service interface as an example to illustrate the interaction process:

and S8105, the access network device sends an N2 session response to the AMF network element.

The N session response message includes N2SM information.

S8106, the AMF network element uses the operation of the Nsmf _ PDSUSession _ UpdateSMContext service, and the service comprises N2SM information. The SMF network element sends an Nsmf _ PDUSession _ UpdateSMContext response to the AMF network element;

s8107, the UE sends NAS information response PDU conversation modification command, wherein the NAS information comprises PDU conversation ID and N1 SM container, and the N1 SM container is determined for the PDU conversation modification command.

And S8108, the access network device transmits the NAS information to the AMF network element.

S8109, the AMF network element forwards the N1 SM container to the SMF network element by using the Nsmf _ PDSUSession _ UpdateSMContext. And the SMF network element sends an Nsmf _ PDUSESISUpdateSMContext response to the AMF network element.

And S8110, the SMF network element and the UPF execute a PDU session modification process.

S8111, the SMF network element sends the Nsmf _ EventExposure _ Notify to the PCF network element, and the influenced PCC rules are contained. And the PCF network element sends a response message to the SMF network element.

S8112, the PCF network element sends Npcf _ EventExposure _ Notify to the AF network element, including the QoS requirement of the executed service. And the AF network element sends a response message to the PCF network element.

Optionally, after a period of time, when the access network device detects that the first QoS target can be met, the access network device notifies the SMF network element, so that the SMF network element can reuse the first QoS target to transmit the traffic.

Fig. 16 is a flowchart of a QoS flow control method according to a ninth embodiment of the present application, and different from the foregoing embodiment, when the first target of QoS flow cannot be met, a PCF network element makes a decision to delete or modify a QoS policy rule of a service corresponding to QoS flow. As shown in fig. 16, the method provided by the present embodiment includes the following steps:

step S901, the PCF network element receives first indication information sent by the SMF network element, where the first indication information is used to indicate that a first QoS target of the service cannot be met, and the first QoS target includes a first GBR.

The first QoS target of the service is determined by the SMF network element according to the first QoS target of the QoS flow of the service sent by the access network device, the access network device sends first indication information to the SMF network element when the first QoS flow of the service cannot be met, the first indication information is used for indicating that the first QoS target of the QoS flow cannot be met, and the first QoS target of the QoS flow comprises a first GFBR.

After receiving the first indication information sent by the access network device, the SMF network element determines a first GBR of the service according to the first GFBR of the QoS flow, and sends the first GBR of the service to the PCF network element, where the first GBR of the service is carried in the first indication information, to indicate that the first QoS target of the service cannot be met.

Step S902, in a first preset time, if the PCF network element receives the second indication information sent by the SMF network element, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the first QoS target is met, the PCF network element does not process the QoS policy rule of the service, and if the PCF network element does not receive the second indication information sent by the SMF network element, the PCF network element deletes or modifies the QoS policy rule of the service.

In this embodiment, the first preset time may be implemented by a timer, and the timing time of the timer is equal to the first preset time. And after receiving the first indication information, the PCF network element starts a timer, before the timer is overtime, if the PCF network element receives second indication information sent by the SMF network element, the PCF network element does not process the QoS strategy rule of the service, and if the PCF network element does not receive the second indication information sent by the SMF network element, the PCF network element deletes or modifies the QoS strategy rule of the service. In the present application, the PCF network element does not process the QoS policy rule of the service, which means that the QoS policy rule of the service is not deleted or modified, and it is not guaranteed that the PCF network element does not perform possible processing operations on other normal programs.

After the access network device sends the first indication information, whether the first QoS target of the QoS flow can be met or not is detected within second preset time, and if the first QoS target of the QoS flow can be met within the second preset time, the access network device sends second indication information to the SMF network element; if the first QoS target of the QoS flow cannot be met after the second preset time is over, optionally, the access network device may send third indication information to the SMF network element, where the third indication information is used to indicate that the first QoS target of the QoS flow cannot be met, or the access network device does not send any message to the SMF network element. After receiving the third indication information sent by the access network device, the SMF network element determines the first QoS target of the service according to the first QoS target of the QoS flow, and sends the third indication information to the PCF network element to indicate that the first QoS target of the service cannot be met.

Optionally, within the first preset time, if the PCF network element receives the third indication information sent by the SMF network element, where the third indication information is used to indicate that the first QoS target of the service cannot be met, the PCF network element deletes or modifies the QoS policy rule of the service. In this embodiment, modifying the QoS policy rule of the service refers to modifying QoS-related content in the QoS policy rule of the service, for example, modifying GBR and MBR.

In this embodiment, if the PCF network element does not receive the second indication information sent by the access network device within the first preset time, the PCF network element determines that the first target of the service cannot be met, and the PCF network element deletes or modifies the QoS policy rule of the service. The modifying of the QoS policy rule refers to modifying a first QoS target of the QoS policy rule of the service to a second QoS target, the deleting process of the QoS policy rule of the service may adopt an existing deleting process, and the modifying process of the QoS policy rule of the service may adopt an existing modifying process, or may adopt a modifying manner provided in this application embodiment, which is described below with reference to the following embodiments and will not be described herein again.

Optionally, after receiving the first indication information, the PCF network element determines, according to the first indication information, an operation to be performed on the QoS policy rule of the service, where the operation is to delete or modify the QoS policy rule of the service, and a state of the operation is a state to be performed. After determining the operation executed on the QoS policy rule of the service, the PCF network element does not immediately execute the operation, but marks the state of the operation as a to-be-executed state. In a first preset time, if the PCF network element receives second indication information sent by the SMF network element, the PCF network element deletes the state information of the operation; and if the PCF network element does not receive the second indication information sent by the SMF network element, the PCF network element deletes or modifies the QoS strategy rule of the service.

The PCF network element determines to execute modification operation on the QoS strategy rule of the service, and the modification operation comprises the following steps: the PCF network element determines the second QoS target of the QoS strategy rule, and because the operation of determining to execute the QoS strategy rule and the detection of whether the second indication information is received can be parallel operations, compared with the operation of determining to execute modification operation on the QoS strategy rule after the first preset time, the modification time of the QoS strategy rule can be shortened, and the influence on the service is reduced.

In this embodiment, a PCF network element receives first indication information sent by an SMF network element, where the first indication information is used to indicate that a first QoS target of a service cannot be met, where the first QoS target includes a first GBR, and in a first preset time, if the PCF network element receives second indication information sent by the SMF network element, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the first QoS target is met, the PCF network element does not process a QoS policy rule of the service, and if the PCF network element does not receive the second indication information sent by the SMF network element, the PCF network element deletes or modifies the QoS policy rule of the service, and the QoS flow of the deleted service is realized by deleting or modifying the QoS policy rule of the service. According to the method, when the QoS target of the QoS flow cannot be met, the PCF network element does not immediately delete or modify the QoS strategy rule of the service corresponding to the QoS flow, but deletes or modifies the QoS strategy rule of the service if the QoS target of the QoS flow cannot be met after delaying for the first preset time, so that the problem that the QoS flow service cannot obtain the service or the service quality of the service is reduced due to the fact that the PCF network element immediately deletes or modifies the QoS flow under the condition that the resources of an access network device are short in time is avoided.

Fig. 17 is a flowchart of a QoS flow control method provided in a tenth embodiment of the present invention, and it should be noted that the methods in the ninth and tenth embodiments may be used alone or in combination. When the method in the ninth embodiment is used alone, the PCF network element modifies the QoS policy rules by using the existing modification procedure after determining to modify the QoS policy rules. When the ninth embodiment is combined with the tenth embodiment, the PCF network element modifies the QoS policy rule by using the method of the tenth embodiment after determining to modify the QoS policy rule. As shown in fig. 17, the method provided by this embodiment includes the following steps:

step S1101, the PCF network element receives first indication information sent by the SMF network element, where the first indication information is used to indicate that a first QoS target of the service cannot be met, and the first QoS target includes a first GBR.

Step S1102, the PCF network element determines a second QoS target of the service according to the QoS policy information, where the second QoS target includes a second GBR, and the QoS policy information at least includes the first QoS control information and the second QoS control information.

In this embodiment, at least two kinds of QoS control information included in the QoS policy information can satisfy the QoS requirement of the service, and therefore, the second QoS target of the service determined by the PCF network element according to the QoS control information can satisfy the QoS requirement of the service.

In this embodiment, the PCF network element may determine the second QoS target of the service in several ways as follows:

in a first manner, the QoS policy information further includes at least priority information of the first QoS control information and priority information of the second QoS control information, and the PCF network element determines the second QoS target of the service according to the priority information of the first QoS control information and the priority information of the second QoS control information included in the QoS policy information.

For example, if there is QoS control information with the same priority as that of the QoS control information corresponding to the first QoS target in the QoS policy information, the PCF network element determines a second QoS target according to the QoS control information with the same priority. And if the QoS strategy information does not have the QoS control information with the same priority as the QoS control information corresponding to the first QoS target, the PCF network element selects the QoS control information with the second priority of the QoS control information corresponding to the first QoS target, and determines a second QoS target according to the QoS control information with the second priority.

In the second mode, the PCF network element determines the second QoS target of the service according to the GBR information of the first QoS control information and the GBR information of the second QoS control information included in the QoS policy information.

When the QoS strategy information comprises GBR information of QoS control information, the PCF network element determines a second QoS target of the service according to the GBR information of each QoS control information. For example, the PCF network element selects the QoS control information with the largest GBR from the remaining QoS information, and determines the second QoS target based on the QoS control information with the largest GBR.

In a third mode, the PCF network element determines at least one third QoS target according to at least two QoS control information included in the QoS strategy information, the PCF network element sends the third QoS target to the SMF network element, the PCF network element receives a fourth QoS target sent by the SMF network element, the fourth QoS target is determined by the SMF network element according to the QoS target which can be currently met by the access network device, and the PCF network element determines the second QoS target according to the fourth QoS target.

The access network device determines a QoS flow target according to the QoS flow target and sends the QoS flow target to the SMF network element. And the SMF network element determines a fourth QoS target of the service according to the fourth target of the QoS flow and sends the fourth QoS target of the service to the PCF network element, and the PCF network element determines a second QoS target of the service according to the fourth QoS target of the service.

When determining the second QoS target of the service according to the fourth QoS target of the service, the PCF network element may directly use the fourth QoS target of the service as the second QoS target of the service, or may process the fourth QoS target of the service to obtain the second QoS target of the service, for example, after floating a certain range up and down for the GBR included in the fourth QoS target of the service, the fourth QoS target of the service is used as the second QoS target of the service.

In the first two modes, the PCF network element determines the second QoS target of the service according to the mode of the PCF network element, and in the third mode, the PCF network element and the access network device negotiate to determine the second QoS target of the service, so that the second QoS target determined for the service can be matched with the resources of the access network device, and the resources of the access network device can be utilized to the maximum.

In a fourth mode, the PCF network element receives a fifth QoS target sent by the SMF network element, where the fifth QoS target is determined by the SMF network element according to the QoS target currently satisfied by the access network device, and the PCF network element determines the second QoS target according to the fifth QoS target.

The SMF network element determines a fifth QoS target of the service according to the QoS target which can be met by the QoS flow of the service, and sends the fifth QoS target of the service to the PCF network element, and the PCF network element determines a second QoS target of the service according to the fifth QoS target of the service.

In this method, a PCF network element and an access network device negotiate to determine a second QoS target of a service, which is different from the third method in that: in the third mode, the PCF network element triggers the access network device to send the QoS target which can be met by the access network device; in the fourth mode, when the first QoS target of the QoS flow cannot be met, the access network device actively reports the QoS target that can be met by the access network device, so that the SMF network element determines the fifth QoS target of the service according to the QoS target that can be met by the access network device currently, and sends the fifth QoS target of the service to the PCF network element, thereby ensuring that the second QoS target determined for the service is matched with the resource of the access network device, and enabling the resource of the access network device to be utilized to the maximum.

And step S1103, the PCF network element sends the second QoS target to the SMF network element.

And the PCF network element sends the second QoS target of the service to the SMF network element, and the SMF network element determines the second QoS target of the QoS flow according to the second QoS target of the service and sends the second QoS target of the QoS flow to the access network device, so that the access network device modifies the QoS flow.

In this embodiment, the PCF network element receives first indication information sent by the SMF network element, where the first indication information is used to indicate that a first QoS target of a service cannot be met, where the first QoS target includes a first GBR, the PCF network element determines, according to QoS policy information, a second QoS target of the service, where the second QoS target includes a second GBR, where the QoS policy information at least includes first QoS control information and second QoS control information, and the PCF network element sends the second QoS target to the SMF network element. Compared with the prior art, the scheme of the embodiment modifies the QoS target of the service from the first QoS target to the second QoS target, and the QoS quality of the service cannot be reduced.

Fig. 18 is a signaling flowchart of a QoS flow control method provided in an eleventh embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 18, the method provided in this embodiment includes the following steps:

step S1201, the UE establishes a PDU session with the network (session).

Step S1202, when the AF network element determines that the UE establishes the service, the AF network element sends the service information and at least two GBR QoS requirements to the PCF network element.

Step S1203, the PCF network element sends at least two kinds of GBR QoS control information to the SMF network element.

The PCF network element may carry the at least two GBR QoS control information in an Npcf _ SMPolicyControl _ UpdateNotify service, which is sent by the PCF network element according to the service request of the AF network element, and the GBR QoS control information is generated by the PCF network element according to the GBR QoS requirement sent by the AF network element. Optionally, the service further includes priority information of GBR QoS control information.

Step S1204, SMF network element establishes corresponding QoS flow according to the message sent by PCF network element.

Step S1205, the UE and the network establish QoS flow based on Notification control.

Step S1206, the access network apparatus detects that the first QoS target of the QoS flow cannot be met and the configuration file of the QoS flow includes the Notification control.

Step S1207, the access network device sends the first indication information to the AMF network element.

The access network device may carry the first indication information in an N2message and send the message to the AMF network element, where the N2message includes a PDU session ID and N2SM information. The N2SM information includes an identifier (QFI) of the QoS flow and first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that a first QoS target of the QoS flow cannot be met.

Step S1208, the AMF network element sends the first indication information to the SMF network element.

Step S1209, the SMF network element sends the first indication information to the PCF network element.

After receiving the first indication information sent by the AMF network element, the SMF network element determines a first QoS target of the service according to the first QoS target of the QoS flow, and sends the first QoS target of the service to the PCF network element by carrying the first QoS target in the first indication information. The SMF network element may send the first indication information to the PCF network element, where the first indication information is carried in a Nsmf _ EventExposure-Notify message.

Step S1210, the PCF network element starts a timer.

Step S1211, within a second preset time, the access network device detects that the first QoS target of the QoS flow is met.

Step S1212, the access network device sends the second indication information to the AMF network element.

The second indication information is used to indicate that the first QoS target of QoS flow is met, and the access network device may carry the second indication information in an N2message to send to the AMF network element, where the message includes a PDU session ID and N2SM information. The N2SM information includes QFI and second indication information.

Step S1213, the AMF network element sends the second indication information to the SMF network element.

The AMF network element may carry the second indication information in an Nsmf pdusessutessmcontext, and send the message to the SMF network element, where the message further includes QFI. When the SMF network element receives the second indication message, the timer is deleted and the PCF network element is notified of the event (i.e. the first QoS target arrives). And the SMF network element deletes the state information of the QoS flow operation.

Step S1214, the SMF network element sends the second indication information to the PCF network element.

The second indication information is used to indicate that the first QoS target of the service is satisfied, and the SMF network element may carry the second indication information in an Nsmf _ evendexposure-Notify message and send the Nsmf _ evendexposure-Notify message to the PCF network element.

Step S1215, the PCF network element notifies the AF network element of the event that the first QoS target of the service is met.

When the PCF network element notifies the AF network element of the event that the first QoS target of the service is satisfied, it determines to modify the QoS policy rule of the service, and then the PCF network element determines the second QoS target of the service, and the specific determination manner of the second QoS target refers to the description of the above embodiment, which is not described herein again.

Step S1216, the PCF network element sends a Session management Policy Modification (Session management Policy Modification) initiation procedure (including the second QoS target of the service) to the SMF network element.

And after receiving the second QoS target of the service, the SMF network element determines a second QoS target of the QoS flow according to the second QoS target of the service.

Step S1217, QoS flow modification flow.

s12170, the SMF network element sends a deletion or modification request of the QoS flow (including a second QoS target of the QoS flow) to the AMF network element.

After receiving the second QoS of the service sent by the PCF network element, the SMF network element determines a second QoS target of QoS flow according to the second QoS target of the service, and then the SMF network element sends Namf _ Communication _ N1N2MessageTransfer to the AMF network element, wherein the message comprises N2SM information and an N1 SM container. Packet PDU session ID, QFI and QoS profile (second QoS target) in N2SM message; the N1 SM container contains the PDU session ID, the QoS rules that cannot be met (including the first QoS target), and the operation of the QoS rules (e.g., delete or modify).

S12171 the AMF network element sends a deletion or modification request of the QoS flow (including the second QoS target of the QoS flow) to the access network device.

S12172, the access network apparatus performs a specific procedure with the UE according to the second QoS target of the QoS flow.

S12173, the access network device interacts with the core network device, and QoS flow modification is realized.

The existing flow can be adopted in the interaction process between the access network device and the core network device, and this embodiment illustrates the interaction process by taking the network architecture to communicate in a way based on a service interface as an example:

s12174, the access network device sends an N2 session response to the AMF network element.

The N session response message includes N2SM information.

S12175, the AMF network element uses Namf _ PDSUSession _ UpdateSMContext service operation, and the service includes N2SM information. The SMF network element sends an Nsmf _ PDUSession _ UpdateSMContext response to the AMF network element;

s12176, the UE sends NAS news response PDU conversation to revise the order, include PDU conversation ID in NAS news, and N1 SM container, N1 SM container is PDU conversation to revise the order and confirm.

S12177, the access network device forwards the NAS message to the AMF network element.

S12178, using Nsmf _ PDSUSession _ UpdateSMContext, the AMF network element forwards the N1 SM container to the SMF network element. And the SMF network element sends an Nsmf _ PDSUSession _ UpdateSMContext response to the AMF network element.

S12179, the SMF network element and the UPF execute the PDU conversation modifying flow.

S12180, the SMF network element sends Nsmf _ EventExposure _ Notify to the PCF network element, which contains the affected PCC rule. And the PCF network element sends a response message to the SMF network element.

S12181, the PCF network element sends an Nsmf _ EventExposure _ Notify to the AF network element, including the QoS requirement of the executed service. And the AF network element sends a response message to the PCF network element.

Fig. 19 is a flowchart of a QoS flow control method according to a twelfth embodiment of the present application, and different from the foregoing embodiment, when the first target of QoS flow cannot be met, an AF network element decides to delete or modify a QoS requirement of a service corresponding to QoS flow, thereby triggering modification of QoS flow. As shown in fig. 19, the method provided by the present embodiment includes the following steps:

step S1301, the AF network element receives first indication information sent by the PCF network element, where the first indication information is used to indicate that a first QoS target of the service cannot be met, and the first QoS target includes a first GBR.

After receiving the first indication information sent by the access network device, the SMF network element determines a first GBR of the service according to the first GFBR of the QoS flow, carries the first GBR of the service in the first indication information and sends the first GBR of the service to the PCF network element so as to indicate that the first QoS target of the service cannot be met, and the PCF network element sends the first indication information to the AF network element.

Step S1302, in a first preset time, if the AF network element receives second indication information sent by the PCF network element, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the first QoS target is met, the AF network element does not process the QoS requirement of the service, and if the AF network element does not receive the second indication information sent by the PCF network element, the AF network element deletes or modifies the QoS requirement of the service.

In this embodiment, the first preset time may be implemented by a timer, and the timing time of the timer is equal to the first preset time. And the AF network element starts a timer after receiving the first indication information, before the timer is overtime, if the AF network element receives second indication information sent by the PCF network element, the AF network element processes the QoS requirement of the service, and if the AF network element does not receive the second indication information sent by the PCF network element, the AF network element deletes or modifies the QoS requirement of the service. In this application, the AF network element not processing the QoS requirement of the service means not deleting or modifying the QoS requirement of the service, and does not ensure that the AF network element does not perform possible processing operations on other normal programs.

After the access network device sends the first indication information, whether the first QoS target of the QoS flow can be met or not is detected within second preset time, and if the first QoS target of the QoS flow can be met within the second preset time, the access network device sends second indication information to the SMF network element; if the first QoS target of the QoS flow cannot be met after the second preset time is over, optionally, the access network device may send third indication information to the SMF network element, where the third indication information is used to indicate that the first QoS target of the QoS flow cannot be met, or the access network device does not send any message to the SMF network element. After receiving the third indication information sent by the access network device, the SMF network element determines the first QoS target of the service according to the first QoS target of the QoS flow, sends the third indication information to the PCF network element to indicate that the first QoS target of the service cannot be met, and the PCF network element sends the first indication information to the AF network element.

Optionally, within the first preset time, if the AF network element receives third indication information sent by the PCF network element, where the third indication information is used to indicate that the first QoS target of the service cannot be met, the AF network element deletes or modifies the QoS requirement of the service. In this embodiment, modifying the QoS requirement of the service refers to modifying QoS-related content in the QoS requirement of the service, for example, modifying GBR and MBR.

In this embodiment, if the AF network element does not receive the second indication information sent by the PCF network element within the first preset time, the AF network element determines that the first target of the service cannot be met, and the AF network element deletes or modifies the QoS requirement of the service. The QoS requirement modification refers to modifying a first QoS target in the QoS requirements of the service to a second QoS target, where the QoS requirement deletion process of the service may be an existing deletion process, and the QoS requirement modification process of the service may be an existing modification process, or may also be a modification method provided in the thirteenth embodiment of the present application, and reference is made to the following embodiments, which are not described herein again.

Optionally, after receiving the first indication information, the AF network element determines, according to the first indication information, an operation to be performed on the QoS requirement of the service, where the operation is to delete or modify the QoS requirement of the service, and a state of the operation is a to-be-performed state. After determining the operation performed on the QoS requirement of the service, the AF network element does not perform the operation immediately, but marks the state of the operation as a to-be-performed state. In a first preset time, if the AF network element receives second indication information sent by the PCF network element, the AF network element deletes the state information of the operation; and if the AF network element does not receive the second indication information sent by the PCF network element, the AF network element deletes or modifies the QoS requirement of the service.

The AF network element determines that the modification operation is performed on the QoS requirement of the service, and the operation comprises the following steps: the AF network element determines the second QoS target of the QoS requirement, and because the operation of determining the modification operation to the QoS requirement and the detection of whether the second indication information is received can be parallel operations, compared with the operation of determining the modification operation to the QoS requirement after the first preset time, the modification time of the QoS requirement can be shortened, and the influence to the service is reduced.

In this embodiment, an AF network element receives first indication information sent by a PCF network element, where the first indication information is used to indicate that a first QoS target of a service cannot be met, where the first QoS target includes a first GBR, and if the AF network element receives second indication information sent by the PCF network element and the second indication information is used to indicate that the first QoS target is met, the AF network element does not process a QoS requirement of the service, and if the AF network element does not receive the second indication information sent by the PCF network element, the AF network element deletes or modifies the QoS requirement of the service, and sets out a QoS flow of an SMF network element by deleting or modifying the QoS requirement of the service. According to the method, when the QoS target of the QoS flow cannot be met, the AF network element does not immediately delete or modify the QoS requirement of the service corresponding to the QoS flow, but deletes or modifies the QoS requirement of the service after delaying the first preset time if the QoS target of the QoS flow cannot be met, so that the problem that the QoS flow service cannot obtain the service or the service quality of the service is reduced due to immediate deletion or modification of the QoS flow under the condition that the resources of an access network device are short-term in shortage is solved.

Fig. 20 is a flowchart of a QoS flow control method provided in a thirteenth embodiment of the present invention, and it should be noted that the methods in the twelfth embodiment and the thirteenth embodiment may be used alone or in combination. When the method in the twelfth embodiment is used alone, after determining to modify the QoS requirement, the AF network element modifies the QoS requirement by using the existing modification procedure. When the embodiment twelve and the embodiment thirteen are combined, after determining to modify the QoS requirement, the AF network element modifies the QoS requirement by using the method of the embodiment thirteen. As shown in fig. 20, the method provided by the present embodiment includes the following steps:

step S1401, the AF network element receives first indication information sent by the PCF network element, where the first indication information is used to indicate that a first QoS target of the service cannot be met, and the first QoS target includes a first GBR.

Step S1402, the AF network element determines a second QoS target of the service according to the QoS policy information, where the second QoS target includes a second GBR, and the QoS policy information at least includes first QoS requirement information and second QoS requirement information.

In this embodiment, at least two kinds of QoS requirement information included in the QoS policy information can satisfy the QoS requirement of the service, and therefore, the AF network element can satisfy the QoS requirement of the service according to the second QoS target of the service determined by the QoS control information.

In this embodiment, the AF network element may determine the second QoS target of the service in the following manners:

in a first manner, the QoS policy information further includes at least priority information of the first QoS requirement information and priority information of the second QoS requirement information, and the AF network element determines the second QoS target of the service according to the priority information of the first QoS requirement information and the priority information of the second QoS requirement information included in the QoS policy information.

For example, if there is QoS requirement information with the same priority as the QoS requirement information corresponding to the first QoS target in the QoS policy information, the AF network element determines the second QoS target according to the QoS requirement information with the same priority. And if the QoS strategy information does not have the QoS demand information with the same priority as the QoS demand information corresponding to the first QoS target, the AF network element selects the QoS demand information with the second priority of the QoS demand information corresponding to the first QoS target, and determines a second QoS target according to the QoS demand information with the second priority.

In the second mode, the AF network element controls GBR information of the first QoS control information and GBR information of the second QoS control information according to the QoS policy information.

And when the QoS strategy information comprises GBR requirements of QoS control information, the AF network element selects QoS requirement information with the maximum GBR from the residual QoS requirement information according to the GBR information of each QoS requirement information, and determines a second QoS target according to the QoS requirement information with the maximum GBR.

In a third mode, the AF network element determines at least one third QoS target according to at least two kinds of QoS requirement information included in the QoS policy information, the AF network element sends the third QoS target to the PCF network element, the AF network element receives a fourth QoS target sent by the PCF network element, the fourth QoS target is determined by the SMF network element according to a QoS target that can be currently met by the access network device, and the AF network element determines the second QoS target according to the fourth QoS target.

The access network device determines a QoS flow target according to the QoS flow target and sends the QoS flow target to the SMF network element. And the SMF network element determines a fourth QoS target of the service according to the fourth target of the QoS flow and sends the fourth QoS target of the service to the PCF network element, the PCF network element sends the fourth QoS flow of the service to the AF network element, and the AF network element determines a second QoS target of the service according to the fourth QoS of the service.

When determining the second QoS target of the service according to the fourth QoS target of the service, the AF network element may directly use the fourth QoS target of the service as the second QoS target of the service, or may process the fourth QoS target of the service to obtain the second QoS target of the service, for example, after a GBR included in the fourth QoS target of the service floats up and down within a certain range, the fourth QoS target of the service is used as the second QoS target of the service.

In the first two modes, the AF network element determines the second QoS target of the service according to the self mode, and in the third mode, the AF network element and the access network device negotiate to determine the second QoS target of the service, so that the second QoS target determined for the service can be matched with the resource of the access network device, and the resource of the access network device can be utilized to the maximum.

In a fourth mode, the AF network element receives a fifth QoS target sent by the PCF network element, the fifth QoS target is determined by the SMF network element according to the QoS target currently satisfied by the access network device, and the AF network element determines the second QoS target according to the fifth QoS target.

The QoS target that the access network device can meet refers to a QoS target that the QoS flow of the service can meet, and the SMF network element determines a fifth QoS target of the service according to the QoS target that the QoS flow can meet and sends the fifth QoS target to the AF network element.

In this way, the AF network element and the access network device negotiate to determine the second QoS target of the service, which is different from the third way: in the third mode, an AF network element triggers an access network device to send a QoS target which can be met by the access network device; in the fourth mode, when the first QoS target of the QoS flow cannot be met, the access network device actively reports the QoS target that can be met by the access network device, so that the SMF network element determines the fifth QoS target of the service according to the QoS target that can be met by the access network device currently, and sends the fifth QoS target of the service to the PCF network element, thereby ensuring that the second QoS target determined for the service is matched with the resource of the access network device, and enabling the resource of the access network device to be utilized to the maximum.

Step S1403, the AF network element sends the second QoS target to the PCF network element.

And the SMF network element determines a second QoS target of the QoS flow according to the second QoS target of the service and sends the second QoS target of the QoS flow to the access network device, so that the access network device modifies the QoS flow.

In this embodiment, an AF network element receives first indication information sent by a PCF network element, where the first indication information is used to indicate that a first QoS target of a service cannot be met, the first QoS target includes a first GBR, the AF network element determines a second QoS target of the service according to QoS policy information, the second QoS target includes a second GBR, where the QoS policy information at least includes first QoS requirement information and second QoS requirement information, and the AF network element sends the second QoS target to the PCF network element. Compared with the prior art, the scheme of the embodiment modifies the QoS target of the service from the first QoS target to the second QoS target, and the QoS quality of the service cannot be reduced.

Fig. 21 is a signaling flowchart of a QoS flow control method according to a fourteenth embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 18, the method according to the present embodiment includes the following steps:

step S1501, the UE establishes a PDU session (session) with the network.

Step S1502, when the AF network element determines to establish a service for the UE, the AF network element sends service information and at least two GBR QoS requirements to the PCF network element.

Step S1503, the PCF network element sends at least two kinds of GBR QoS control information to the SMF network element.

Step S1504, the SMF network element establishes the corresponding QoS flow according to the message sent by the PCF network element.

Step S1505, the UE establishes QoS flow based on Notification control with the network.

Step S1506, the access network device detects that the first QoS target of the QoS flow cannot be met and the configuration file of the QoS flow includes the Notification control.

Step S1507, the access network device sends the first indication information to the AMF network element.

Step S1508, the AMF network element sends the first indication information to the SMF network element.

Step S1509, the SMF network element sends the first indication information to the PCF network element.

The SMF network element receives the first indication information sent by the AMF network element, determines the first QoS target of the service according to the first QoS target of the QoS flow, carries the first QoS target of the service in the first indication information and sends the first QoS target of the service to the PCF network element. The SMF network element may send the first indication information to the PCF network element, carried in an Nsmf _ EventExposure-Notify message.

Step S1510, the PCF network element sends the first indication information to the AF network element.

The first indication information is used to indicate that the first QoS target of the service cannot be met, and the PCF network element may carry the first indication information in an Nsmf _ EventExposure-Notify message and send the Nsmf _ EventExposure-Notify message to the AF network element.

Step S1511, the AF network element starts a timer.

Step S1512, within a second preset time, the access network apparatus detects that the first QoS target of the QoS flow is met.

Step S1513, the access network device sends the second indication information to the AMF network element.

Step S1514, the AMF network element sends second indication information to the SMF network element.

Step S1515, the SMF network element sends the second indication information to the PCF network element.

Step S1516, the PCF network element sends the second indication information to the AF network element.

The PCF network element may carry the second indication information in an Nsmf _ evendexposure-Notify message and send the Nsmf _ evendexposure-Notify message to the AF network element, and the AF network element determines to modify or delete the QoS requirement of the service according to the second indication information. When the AF network element determines to modify the QoS requirement of the service, the AF network element determines a second QoS target of the service according to the at least two QoS requirements, and the specific determination mode refers to the description of the fourteenth embodiment, which is not described herein again.

Step S1517, the AF network element initiates a service requirement deletion or modification procedure (including the second QoS target of the service) to the PCF network element.

The AF network element may carry the second QoS target of the service in an Npcf-policyquery-create-service message and send the message to the PCF network element.

Step S1518, the PCF network element sends the modification flow (including the second QoS target of the service) of the session initiation management policy to the SMF network element.

The PCF network element may send the SMF network element to the PCF network element, carrying the second QoS target of the service in the Nsmf _ eventeexpose-Notify message, and the SMF network element determines the second QoS target of the QoS flow according to the second QoS target of the service.

Step S1519, QoS flow modifying flow.

s15190, the SMF network element sends a delete or modify request for QoS flow (including the second QoS target for QoS flow) to the AMF network element.

Illustratively, after receiving the second QoS of the service sent by the PCF network element, the SMF network element determines a second QoS target of the QoS flow according to the second QoS target of the service, and then the SMF network element sends a naf _ Communication _ N1N2message transfer to the AMF network element, where the message includes N2SM information and N1 SM container. Packet PDU session ID, QFI and QoS profile (second QoS target) in N2SM message; the N1 SM container contains the PDU session ID, the QoS rules that cannot be met (including the first QoS target), and the operation of the QoS rules (e.g., delete or modify).

S15191, the AMF network element sends a deletion or modification request of the QoS flow (including the second QoS target of the QoS flow) to the access network device.

S15192, the access network device performs a specific procedure with the UE according to the second QoS target of the QoS flow.

S15193, the access network device interacts with the core network device, and the modification of QoS flow is realized.

s15194, the access network device sends a N2 session response to the AMF network element.

The N session response message includes N2SM information.

S15195, the AMF network element uses the operation of the Nsmf _ PDSUSessionUpdateSMContext service, and the service comprises N2SM information. The SMF network element sends an Nsmf _ PDUSession _ UpdateSMContext response to the AMF network element;

s15196, the UE sends NAS news response PDU conversation to revise the order, include PDU conversation ID in NAS news, and N1 SM container, N1 SM container is the PDU conversation revises the order to confirm.

S15197, the access network device forwards the NAS message to the AMF network element.

S15198, the AMF network element forwards the N1 SM container to the SMF network element by using the Nsmf _ PDSUSession _ UpdateSMContext. And the SMF network element sends an Nsmf _ PDUSESISUpdateSMContext response to the AMF network element.

S15199, the SMF network element and the UPF execute the PDU conversation amending flow.

S15200, the SMF network element sends the Nsmf _ EventExposure _ Notify to the PCF network element, and the affected PCC rules are contained. And the PCF network element sends a response message to the SMF network element.

S15201, the PCF network element sends an Npcf _ EventExposure _ Notify to the AF network element, including the QoS requirement of the executed service. And the AF network element sends a response message to the PCF network element.

It should be noted that, when the method of the present application is applied to a roaming scenario, the PCF network element may be a visited PCF (v-PCF) network element or a home PCF (h-PCF) network element, and the SMF network element may also be a visited SMF (v-SMF) network element or a home SMF (h-SMF) network element. In addition, in the embodiment of the present application, the interactive messages between the network elements are described by using an architecture based on a service interface, the above embodiment is merely an example, and the names of the interactive messages in the present application may be implemented by using other names of messages. When the method is used for the architecture of the interface, the corresponding function is realized by using the message name related to the corresponding interface architecture.

A fifteenth embodiment of the present application provides an SMF network element, where the SMF network element includes: means for implementing the method performed by the SMF network element in embodiments one through fourteen.

An embodiment of the present application sixthly provides an access network apparatus, including: means for implementing the method performed by the access network apparatus in embodiments one to fourteen.

Seventeenth of the embodiments of the present application provides a PCF network element, including: means for implementing the method performed by the PCF network element in embodiments one through fourteen.

An eighteenth embodiment of the present application provides an AF network element, where the AF network element includes: means for implementing the method performed by the AF network element in the first to fourteenth embodiments.

Fig. 22 is a schematic structural diagram of an SMF network element provided in nineteenth embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 22, the SMF network element includes: a processor 11, a memory 12, and a transceiver 13, where the memory 12 is configured to store instructions, the transceiver 13 is configured to communicate with other devices, and the processor 11 is configured to execute the instructions stored in the memory 12, so that the SMF network element executes the method steps executed by the SMF network element in the first to fourteenth embodiments, and a specific implementation manner and technical effects are similar, and are not described herein again.

Fig. 23 is a schematic structural diagram of an access network apparatus according to twenty of the present application, and as shown in fig. 23, the access network apparatus includes: a processor 21, a memory 22, and a transceiver 23, where the memory 22 is configured to store instructions, the transceiver 23 is configured to communicate with other devices, and the processor 21 is configured to execute the instructions stored in the memory 22, so that the access network apparatus executes the method steps executed by the access network apparatus in the first to fourteenth embodiments, and a specific implementation manner and technical effects are similar, and are not described again here.

Fig. 24 is a schematic structural diagram of a PCF network element according to twenty-first embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 24, the PCF network element includes: a processor 31, a memory 32, and a transceiver 33, where the memory 32 is configured to store instructions, the transceiver 32 is configured to communicate with other devices, and the processor 31 is configured to execute the instructions stored in the memory 32, so that the PCF network element executes the steps of the method executed by the PCF network element in the first embodiment to the fourteenth embodiment, and a specific implementation manner and technical effects are similar and are not described herein again.

Fig. 25 is a schematic structural diagram of an AF network element according to twenty-two embodiments of the present application, and as shown in fig. 25, the AF network element includes: a processor 41, a memory 42, and a transceiver 43, where the memory 42 is configured to store instructions, the transceiver 42 is configured to communicate with other devices, and the processor 41 is configured to execute the instructions stored in the memory 42, so that the AF network element executes the method steps executed by the AF network element in the first to fourteenth embodiments, and a specific implementation manner and technical effects are similar, and are not described again here.

Twenty-third embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, which is applied to an SMF network element, where the computer-readable storage medium stores instructions, and when the instructions are executed by a computing device, the SMF network element executes the method steps executed by the SMF network element in the foregoing first to fourteenth embodiments, and specific implementation manners and technical effects are similar to each other, and are not described herein again.

Twenty-fourth of the embodiments of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, which is applied to an access network device, where the computer-readable storage medium stores instructions, and when the instructions are executed by a computing device, the access network device executes the method steps executed by the access network device in the first to fourteenth embodiments, where specific implementation manners and technical effects are similar, and are not described herein again.

Twenty-fifth of embodiments of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, which is applied to a PCF network element, where the computer-readable storage medium stores instructions, and when the instructions are executed by a computing device, the PCF network element executes the method steps executed by the PCF network element in the foregoing embodiments one to fourteen, and a specific implementation manner and technical effects are similar, and are not described herein again.

Twenty-sixth embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, which is applied to an AF network element, where the computer-readable storage medium stores instructions, and when the instructions are executed by a computing device, the AF network element executes the method steps executed by the AF network element in the foregoing embodiments one to fourteen, and specific implementation manners and technical effects are similar, and are not described herein again.

The Processor in each of the above embodiments may be a general purpose Processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an off-the-shelf Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other Programmable logic device, discrete Gate or transistor logic device, or discrete hardware components. The various methods, steps and logic blocks disclosed in the embodiments of the present invention may be implemented or performed. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like. The steps of the method disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present invention may be directly implemented by a hardware decoding processor, or implemented by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software module may be located in a Random Access Memory (RAM), a flash Memory, a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a programmable ROM, an electrically erasable programmable Memory, a register, or other storage media that are well known in the art. The storage medium is located in the memory 1002, and the processor 1001 reads the instructions in the memory 1002 and performs the steps of the method in combination with the hardware.

The bus described herein may be an Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, an Extended ISA (EISA) bus, or the like. The bus may be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of illustration, the buses in the figures of the present application are not limited to only one bus or one type of bus.

In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed apparatus and method may be implemented in other ways. For example, the above-described apparatus embodiments are merely illustrative, and for example, the division of the units is only one logical division, and other divisions may be realized in practice, for example, a plurality of units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted, or not executed. In addition, the shown or discussed mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection may be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, and may be in an electrical, mechanical or other form.

The units described as separate parts may or may not be physically separate, and parts displayed as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may be distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of the embodiment.

In addition, functional units in the embodiments of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units are integrated into one unit. The integrated unit can be realized in a form of hardware, or in a form of hardware plus a software functional unit.

Claims

1. A method for controlling quality of service (QoS) flows, comprising:

the access network device receives at least two QoS targets of a QoS flow from a session management function network element;

in the event that the first QoS target for the QoS flow cannot be met, the access network device determining, based on available resources and the at least two QoS targets, a QoS target that the access network device can meet, the QoS target that the access network device can meet being included in the at least two QoS targets;

and the access network device reports the QoS goals which can not be met by the first QoS goal of the QoS flow and can be met by the access network device to the session management function network element.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first QoS target comprises a first guaranteed stream bitstream GFBR and wherein the QoS target that the access network device can meet comprises a second GFBR.

3. Method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said QoS flow is a guaranteed bit rate QoS flow.

4. A method for controlling QoS flow, comprising:

a session management function network element receives at least two kinds of guaranteed bit rate quality of service (GBR) QoS control information of a QoS flow from a policy control function network element;

the session management function network element sends at least two QoS targets of the QoS flow to an access network device according to the at least two GBR QoS control information;

the access network device receives the at least two QoS targets from the session management function network element;

and the access network device reports the QoS targets which can not be met by the first QoS target of the QoS flow and can be met by the access network device to the session management function network element.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the first QoS target comprises a first guaranteed stream bit stream (GFBR) and wherein the QoS target that the access network device can meet comprises a second GFBR.

6. The method of claim 4 or 5, further comprising:

and the session management function network element reports the QoS targets which can not be met by the first QoS target of the QoS flow and can be met by the access network device to the policy control function network element.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

and the policy control function network element sends the at least two types of GBR QoS control information to the session management function network element.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the at least two types of QoS control information are used to determine the at least two types of GBR QoS targets.

9. The method according to claim 7 or 8, wherein before the policy control function network element sends the at least two types of GBR QoS control information to the session management function network element, the method further comprises:

the policy control function network element receives at least two QoS requirements from an application function network element;

and the strategy control function network element generates the at least two kinds of GBR QoS control information according to the at least two kinds of QoS requirements.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

the policy control function network element receives priority information of the at least two QoS requirements from the application function network element.

11. The method of claim 9 or 10, further comprising:

and the application function network element sends the at least two QoS requirements to the policy control function network element.

12. A control device for quality of service, QoS, flows, characterized in that it comprises one or more modules adapted to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 3.

13. An apparatus for controlling a quality of service (QoS) flow, comprising: a processor, a memory for storing instructions, and a transceiver for communicating with other devices, the processor for executing the instructions stored in the memory to cause the apparatus to perform the method of any of claims 1-3.

14. A computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause a computer to perform the method of any of claims 1-3.

15. A system chip comprising a processing unit and a communication unit, the processing unit being configured to execute computer instructions to cause the system chip to perform the method of any of claims 1-3.

16. A system, comprising an access network device and a session management function network element,

the session management function network element is configured to: receiving at least two kinds of guaranteed bit rate quality of service (GBR) QoS control information of a QoS flow from a strategy control function network element; sending at least two QoS targets for the QoS flow to an access network device in accordance with the at least two GBR QoS control information;

the access network apparatus is configured to: receiving the at least two QoS targets from the session management function network element; determining, when a first QoS target of the QoS flow cannot be met, a QoS target that can be met by the access network device based on available resources and the at least two QoS targets, the QoS target that can be met by the access network device being included in the at least two QoS targets; and reporting the QoS goals which cannot be met by the first QoS goal of the QoS flow and can be met by the access network device to the session management function network element.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the first QoS target comprises a first guaranteed stream bitstream GFBR and wherein the access network device capable of meeting the QoS target comprises a second GFBR.

18. The system according to claim 16 or 17, wherein said session management function network element is further configured to: and reporting the QoS targets which can not be met by the first QoS target of the QoS flow and can be met by the access network device to the policy control function network element.

19. The system of claim 18, further comprising: the policy control function network element is configured to: and sending the at least two kinds of GBR QoS control information to the session management function network element.

20. The system of claim 19 wherein the at least two QoS control information is used to determine the at least two GBR QoS targets.

21. The system according to claim 18 or 19, wherein the policy control function network element is further configured to: receiving at least two QoS requirements from an application function network element; and generating the at least two kinds of GBR QoS control information according to the at least two kinds of QoS requirements.

22. The system of claim 21, further comprising: the application function network element is configured to: and sending the at least two QoS requirements to the policy control function network element.